The Lunar Chronicles: Bryony-Rose
by rach0486
Summary: The Lunar Chronicles meets Sleeping Beauty. Nine years after Cinder's rebellion on Luna, a number of Thaumaturges have escaped to earth, plotting to seize power again on Luna. In the United Kingdom, Queen Camilla enlists the help of the Rampion Crew to protect her Granddaughter, the Crown Princess Rose, from the twisted Thaumaturge, Mistress Mallorie - COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own these character. This is purely for fun :)

Author's Note: So, it has been a long, long, LONG time since I haven't written FanFiction, but having just finishing reading Marrisa Meyer's Luna Chronicles, I couldn't resist. This is set 9 years after the end of Winter and is my take on Sleeping Beauty in the world of the Lunar Chronicles. I hope you enjoy! Please review to let me know your thoughts. More to follow soon.

The Lunar Chronicles:

Bryony-Rose

Chapter One

Princess Rose, granddaughter of Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom, turned on the small platform that the dressmaker had made her stand on. Mirrors stared at her on three sides as she took in the sight of herself in the gown. Her heart sank. She hated it. It was too restrictive, too puffy in the skirt. Too pink!

Behind her, the dressmaker clapped her hands and sighed with satisfaction.

"Perfect," she mused as she adjusted the bow at the back of the dress.

Rose forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes and nodded, unable to bring herself to even lie about liking it.

"I'll certainly be the talk of the ball," she said through gritted teeth. She held back the rest of the thought, _because I look ridiculous_.

"You'll be the talk of the ball, my dear," came a voice from the door. "Because it is a ball in your honour."

She turned, recognising her grandmother's tones. Her smile now was genuine. She loved her grandmother. Loved the stories she told of the diplomats and leaders she had known. Nothing was secret between them.

Queen Camilla stepped into the room and, with a wave of her hand, she dismissed the dressmaker. Once they were alone, the Queen took in the full sight of the dress.

"I thought it was going to be blue," she said, thinking out loud.

Rose sighed, as best she could anyway in a fully corseted bodice.

"It was," she said no longer hiding her displeasure at what she was wearing. "But then she was inspired by the shade of dusty pink roses that adorned the invitations and –" she gestured at the dress.

The Queen smothered a smirk from forming on her lips. "I know you won't believe me," she said. "But it really does suit you. And it is only for one night. You only turn eighteen once, you know."

Rose's stomach gave a little flutter of nerves. Since her father, the Crown Prince, had passed away three years ago, Rose was next in line to the United Kingdom throne. Turning eighteen meant he came of age. She would be legally recognised as an adult. In a few months' time, on New Year's Day, the ceremony would be held to officially name her Crown Princess. She gulped back the nerves that threatened to overwhelm her. She did not feel ready for the responsibility.

Camilla seemed to sense her apprehension and pulled her into a warm, loving embrace.

"You have nothing to fear, my dear," she said. Her queenly manner replaced with the love and affection of a grandmother. "You will shine."

Rose let out a calming breath that was followed by a small giggle.

"In this dress," she said into her grandmother's ear, "I'll probably glow in the dark."

The laughter that erupted from Camilla was _not_ fit for a queen. "They'll be able to see you from Luna," she said adding to the banter. "But like I said, it is just for one night."

Camilla pulled away from Rose and settled her arm over her shoulders, guiding her towards the changing rooms. Rose allowed half a smile to reach her lips. One night. But then so much more after that.

* * *

The summer moon shone yellow and bright in the darkening sky. At this time of day, just after it had risen, it looked close enough to earth for her reach up and touch. It was possible to make out the faint outline of the glassy domes protecting the cities and sectors on its surface. Lake Artemisia shimmered and glinted and hinted at the palace overlooking its shores. She couldn't see it, exactly, but she knew where on the lake it was located.

Cinder lay in the tall grasses of the meadow they were calling home today. The Rampion had landed somewhere in the province of France earlier that day and, as the rest of the crew had taken the latest batch of the letumosis vaccine to the surrounding towns, Cinder had stayed behind to fix a glitch in the air circulation system. With the work done, she had time to herself until the others returned, happy in the knowledge that they would all breathe easy tonight. Literally.

It was nearly nine years since their rebellion had changed the world and still their primary task was to stem the plague that had gripped the earth for so long. The new strain of the virus that had shown itself before Levana's demise had multiplied quickly and mutated faster than anyone could have anticipated. Only now was it showing signed of slowing down. Only now did they begin to think they were beating it back.

Through the peace and quiet that surrounded her, Cinder could hear a soft peal of music drifting through the meadow. It mingled with the chirp of crickets that had struck up in the twilight. Her gaze did not leave the moon. She wondered if Dr Nandez would be persuaded to add a zoom feature to her optics system. That way, she could gaze up at the moon on a night like this and see the city in all its glory. She may even be able to see Winter waving to her from the balcony of the palace's great hall

President Winter Clay, as she now was. The first President of Luna. It had been no contest at all when she had been persuaded to run. Cinder lifted her hand from behind her head and waved. Winter would be there waving back. Of course she would.

It took a moment for her to realise that the music she had heard was coming closer and was accompanied by footsteps and laughter and singing. Cress' singing. No doubt the music was playing through her port-screen – an old Second Era opera that she had memorised – and she was delighting her friends with her rendition.

Cinder sat up, feeling the damp of the evening dew on her back, just as the crew came into view at the edge of the meadow.

"Hey, slacker!" Thorne shouted over to her as he trudged towards the open cargo bay door of the Rampion. "You fixed our air yet?"

"Of course I have," Cinder replied, standing up and stretching out her limbs, both flesh and synthetic.

"Good," Thorne said. "Well, hurry up and get in here. We have visitors."

"Aye, Captain!" Her mock salute was met with one of his lop sided grins that many a girl had fallen victim to over the years. Thankfully, Cinder was not included in that number.

She glanced around at the rest of the group making their way back to the ship. Cress followed next. She had stopped singing and was taking hold of a box, that looked to be almost twice her size, from Hanna. Hanna and her brother Gregg were the newest members of the Rampion's crew.

After the rebellion, a number of Thaumaturges loyal to Levana had escaped trial and taken refuge in hiding on earth. Most of them had by now been found. One of them had kidnapped Hanna and Gregg, both shells, and held them hostage while she harvested their blood to build up her own immunity to a particularly virulent strain of letumosis that was making its rounds at the time. When they had heard what was going on, Cinder and Cress had made it their own personal mission to track them down and rescue them. It had not been long after that that Scarlet and Wolf had retired from the crew to take care of the farm in Rieux. Hanna and Gregg had eagerly taken their places on board.

As they approached Cinder, Hanna beamed her carefree smile at her and glanced over her shoulder. Cinder followed her gaze and her heart skipped. Bringing up the rear with Iko was –

"SCARLET!" She bounded over and threw her arms around the red-head, pulling her into a tight embrace. Scarlet laughed and returned the hug.

When Cinder, finally released her and saw her face, she could see there was a secret hiding behind the smile in her eyes.

"What?" Cinder questioned, her brow creasing.

Scarlet's smile widened. She said nothing, but took hold of Cinder's arm and guided her towards the ship. Cinder glanced over her shoulder to see Wolf following behind with the vaccine supplies loaded in crates on their quad-transporter. He smiled nervously and waved at her. Cinder waved back. She couldn't remember the last time he had looked so uneasy. What was going on here?

With greater effort than she had expected, Cress heaved the box onto the main table in the Mess. The smell of fresh tomatoes, picked only hours ago from the Benoit-Kesley Farm, wafted up to her and made her bounce on the balls of her feet in anticipation of sinking her teeth into the tender, sweet flesh.

She felt Thorne step up behind her, his hand resting on her hip as his kiss found the nape of her neck. She giggled as the three-day stubble tickled her skin. She turned in his embrace and, standing on the tips of her toes, she claimed his lips with her own.

Nine years. Nine years together and he could still turn her entire body to liquid with his smile. She gazed up at him, not caring at all that Hanna and Gregg were in the corner making retching sounds at them. They were young, she thought. They would learn.

The rest of their party drifted into the Mess, no doubt drawn in by the tempting aroma of fresh food. Cress caught sight of Wolf and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. He was looking well. His jawline was not as prominent as it had been the last time she saw him. Cinder's last act as queen had been to commission a research team to study what could be done to reverse the genetic manipulation done to the soldiers. It had taken them years to develop the Gene Therapy, but it seemed to be having some effect. Slowly. Wolf looked more like the man she had first met in North Africa all those years ago.

Scarlet and Cinder were the last ones to come in, rapt in conversation.

"…and how did you know we were here?" Cinder asked.

"Are you kidding?" came Scarlet's reply. "This ship leads the vaccine fleet. There's practically a parade every time you enter earth's atmosphere. We heard weeks ago you were scheduled to make a stop here. Rieux is only twelve miles that way –" she pointed towards the rear of the Mess. "– and with our deliveries, it wasn't exactly out of our way."

Cress watched her for a moment. Her hair, flame red and warm as ever, had been left to grow out a bit, long and wild. It wasn't nearly as long as Cress' had been in her satellite days, but still it was long and free, cascading down past her shoulders in waves to her mid-back. She had also put on a little weight. Not much, but given the fresh home cooking she could enjoy every day at the farm, it was not entirely surprising. Her red hoodie (a new one by the look of it) clashed beautifully with her hair. But that wasn't the most striking feature about her. Scarlet's smile was wide and joyous and completely untameable. She beamed around the room at her friend and took a deep breath.

"It's good timing, really," she said casting her gaze around everyone gathered. "There's something we need to tell you." She took hold of Wolf's hand beside her and a knot of tension seemed to tighten in his shoulders.

Before Scarlet continued, Cress had the feeling of a great jigsaw puzzle clicking into place in her mind. Wolf's tension. Scarlet's elation. The extra weight she was carrying.

Scarlet was –

"I'm pregnant!"

A collective gasp took the air out of the room for a second or two as the news sunk in. It was broken by an ear piercing shrill from Iko as she threw her arms into the air with excitement and hurtled around the Mess to Scarlet's side.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" she cried.

Questions started to fly around the room – how far along? Boy or girl? Will it have wolf genes? When are you due?

Cress fixed a smile on her face – one that she hoped would show her joy at the news and none of the pain. She busied herself with unpacking the box of produce and tried very, very hard not to look at Thorne, but her eyes betrayed her. She glanced at him. Thankfully she didn't catch his eye. His jaw was set hard and she could see his own shoulders carry some of the tension that Wolf displayed.

She looked away and swallowed hard. This was not the time to get teary. She let Scarlet's excited answers wash over her – three months along, it's a girl, we haven't had her screened yet but the test is next week, she's due in January…

"That's wonderful," Cress managed to say, although her tone was slightly less enthusiastic than she had wanted. Scarlet didn't seem to notice, but a pang of sympathy briefly flashed through Cinder's features before she remembered the rules and it was gone. She nodded to Cress and, if she hadn't been a shell, Cress was sure there would have been a wave of strength emitting from Cinder just for her. The thought made her smile a little wider.

Only for a moment, though, as she caught sight of Thorne slipping out of the Mess, his fists clenched by his sides. Cress wanted to follow him, but she would have to push past too many people for it to be unnoticed. She turned her attention back to the fresh tomatoes in her hand. She brought them up to her nose and breathed in the hint of sunshine left on their skin. The breath she let out calmed her a little and she continued to unpack the box.

 _I am fine_ , she told herself as she retreated into the safe walls of her own make-believe world.

 _I am happy for them._

 _I am happy…_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: As ever, not my character, but so much fun to play with.

Author's note: I realised after posting chapter one yesterday that it didn't really having much to do with the summary I had put up. That stuff is coming, I promise! I was just having fun filling in the last nine years or so. I'm hoping to have Chapter Three done in the next few days... Anyway, on with the story. Please read and review! Enjoy.

* * *

The Lunar Chronicles:

Bryony-Rose

Chapter Two

It was a wonder that there wasn't a hole worn into the carpet. Ever since his coronation as Emperor, Kai had adopted a habit of pacing the floor behind the desk in his office. Whether it was in preparation for a speech or wrestling with state affairs, his mind always seemed clearer if he paced.

Today, though, he had a different reason to pace. His nerves were set on edge. Every time he tried to concentrate on his duties, the nervous energy bubbled through and he couldn't bear to sit for more than five minutes. He caught a glance at Konn Torin, sat on the sofas, watching him.

"She should be here by now," Kai said, stopping long enough to stare at the closed door.

"Please relax, Your Majesty," Torin said. "Everything will be fine. Nainsi is one of the most trusted androids in the empire. She'll be here soon."

Kai nodded, but kept pacing. He was about to add something else when the port-screen on his desk chimed, drawing his attention. He sat down as the green text flashed on the screen:

INCOMING COMMLINK

LINH CINDER

AUDIO AND VISUAL REQUESTED

ANSWER COMM?

Kai smiled and tried to look relaxed as he selected YES and waited a couple of seconds for Cinder's image to fill the screen. Her smile beamed at him from the desk.

"Bon jour, Your Majesty," she said.

Kai smiled. She had taken to learning formal greetings in the native languages of whatever country she commed from with the Rampion.

"So, France today, is it?"

The smile on Cinder's face faltered. "That was French?" she said. "Damnit. I was going for Italian."

As kai's brow creased in confusion, Cinder fell about laughing and took a moment to gather herself.

"I'm sorry," she said swallowing back a snort of laughter. "Your face was priceless. Yes, we're in France. Not far from Rieux. Scarlet and Wolf have dropped by. They say 'Hey.'"

Kai's smiled returned.

"Are you OK?" Cinder asked. "You look stressed.

Kai shrugged and tried to pretend she had misread him.

"I'm fine," he said a little too high pitched. "Everything's fine."

"U-huh. Is Torin there?"

"I am here, Linh-dàrén," Torin chimed in from the sofa.

"Why is he stressed, Torin?"

Kai rolled his eyes. Ever since Torin and Cinder had begun to see eye-to-eye on matters concerning him, they had begun to gang up on him more and more.

"Nainsi is over due to report," Torin replied.

Cinder nodded. "By how long?"

Torin checked his watch. "By my estimation… six minutes and thirty-eight seconds."

Cinder fixed her gaze on Kai with a look. He was familiar with this look. It was her Kai-you're-being-ridiculous-again look. Kai felt himself shrink into his chair.

"I know," he said. "I need to relax."

"Yes you do," Cinder replied. "You can trust Nainsi –"

"That's what I said," Torin interrupted.

"– I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Torin looked smug. "Said that too."

"I guess that's why I pay you so well," Kai said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Torin stood from the sofa.

"And with that tone, I recognise my cue to leave."

"Thank you," kai replied. "See if you can find out where Nainsi is."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"Bye Torin!" Cinder called from the screen.

The door closed with a soft click behind him and Kai's full attention came back to the port-screen.

Cinder smiled. "Hello," she said, a proper greeting now they were alone.

"Hello," Kai replied. "I miss you." And with that, the tension in his shoulders began to relax.

"I miss you too," Cinder said. "This trip has been so much longer than we anticipated. Europe has been hit really badly by this new strain."

Kai nodded in understanding. The work she was doing was important. Still, he couldn't help wanting her by his side.

"I'll see you in a few days, though," Kai said, brightening up. "In London?"

"Absolutely, wouldn't miss it for the world. Can you believe she I eighteen already?"

"I know," Kai mused. "Doesn't seem so long ago we were at her debutant's ball at fifteen. Your invite came through then?"

"Yes." A mischievous smile spread across her lips. "But Cress would have got us on the guest list if it hadn't."

"I didn't hear that," Kai said in mock innocence.

There was that smile again. He wished he would reach into the port-screen and touch her, just brush her cheek.

"So…" he said, a flirtatious glint in his eyes. "My invitation says I can bring a guest. What do you say? Wanna be my plus one?"

"Emperor Kaito," Cinder said, feigning surprise. "Are you asking me on a date? I may blush… you know, if I could."

"Well, by date I mean an official state function of great diplomatic importance."

"Diplomatic importance?" Cinder repeated. "It's an eighteenth birthday bash. You make it sound like one of those Union Conferences you dragged me to last year."

A grin flashed across Kai's face as he recalled sitting with Cinder at the conference after both of them had consumed too much Sake at the dinner. It had indeed made the speeches a lot easier to endure, but Torin had later advised that perhaps Cinder's diplomatic status needed to be reviewed if she was going to be such a poor influence on his judgement. Cinder had kicked him in the shin when he tried to tell Torin that the drinking game had been his idea, not hers.

"Anyway," Cinder continued. "Why would I want to go with you? I've got my own invite."

"As your Emperor, I could order you to go with me," Kai grinned, knowing full well what her response would be.

"Ha! Right. 'Cause that's worked so well for you in the past."

The lightness in Kai's eyes suddenly changed. There was an intensity there now that always took Cinder's breath somewhat. She would never get used to that look.

"Seriously, though," he said. "Please go with me? We have so little time together these days. Having you there with me would be…"

He trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Special," Cinder finished for him with a warm smile. "Of course I'll go with you."

She paused for a moment. Kai could see there was something important waiting to be said. She took in a deep breath and seemed to draw in some courage as well.

"It's not just me, is it?" she said, her tone serious now. "This whole distance thing is getting tough."

Kai nodded. "Very tough," he agreed. From just looking at her on the screen, he could feel the nerve ending in his fingers tingling, dying to reach out and touch her.

"I've been thing recently," Cinder continued. "It' why I called, actually, well that and Scarlet's news tonight kinda put thing in perspective a bit – oh, she's pregnant, by the way, I forgot to say that…"

She was rambling, stuttering over her own thoughts as they rushed at her at one. Kai had seen this in her more times that he could count.

"Cinder," he said calmly. "Take a breath." This was his usual line when she got like this.

The appreciation showed instantly on her face as she took another deep breath and then held his gaze."

"I want to move back to New Beijing. Permanently."

A warmth and lightness spread through Kai. "You do?"

Cinder nodded, visibly relieved to see the joy and excitement on his face.

"When?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "But soon. I haven't talked to the others about it yet and I'm not sure what Iko would think or whether she'd want to come too. I don't even know what I want to do when I get there, or where I'll live or…"

She stopped herself this time, aware that her nervous rambling could have gone on for hours.

Kai smiled at her through the screen. "I love you."

"I love you too." All the tension had disappeared from Cinder's face.

Kai took a moment to think over what she had said.

"Wait," he said as something dawned on him. "Did you just say Scarlet's pregnant?!"

Cinder grinned and nodded. "I wondered when that would sink in."

"Wow! That's… wow!"

"I know."

A knock at the door seemed to jog him back to his senses. Nainsi quietly rolled into the office. His relief must have been visible.

"Is that Nainsi?" Cinder asked.

"Yes." His shoulders relaxed on seeing the android. Even so, he was not ready to end the link with Cinder just yet.

"So when are you going to talk to the others about. –"

"Leaving? Soon," she replied. "Before I meet up with you in London, I hope."

"Great, so Thorne can give me a hard time at the party for dragging his mechanic away from him."

Cinder giggled. It was a highly likely scenario. Thorne could get pretty protective over his crew.

Over by the door, Nainsi shifted slightly. She was not keen on interrupting Kai's private conversations.

"You have to go, don't you?" Cinder asked, all but reading his mind.

"Yeah." He sounded heavy again. "I'm sorry."

"I know, but like you say. I'll see you in a few days."

Kai nodded and exchanged his goodbyes with her. After one or two more I-love-yous, he reluctantly ended the call. He sighed as her face disappeared from the screen. But a jolt of excitement quickly replaced the longing. He bolted out of his chair and moved through the room towards Nainsi.

"So?" he asked urgently. "Did you get it?"

"I did, Your Majesty," Nainsi replied, opening a storage compartment in her stomach – or at least that's where her stomach would have been if she was human… She took out a small, square blue box, small enough to only have one purpose.

Kai took the box as if he was handling fine, fragile bone china. He held his breath as he opened it. Inside, nestling in a cream, silk pillow was a ring. The band was white gold, and polished to a perfect shine. Set in the centre was a White Opal, shimmering with colours dancing over its surface in the light. Diamonds were set on either side of the Opal and seemed to add to the shine and lustre of the ring.

Kai beamed with delight as he looked at it. It was perfect.

"Will it do, Your Majesty?" Nainsi asked.

"Oh yes," Kai replied. He closed the lid of the box and let out a long breath. "I just hope she says yes."

It was two days until the party. International guests had already started to arrive and fill up the guest quarters in the palace. Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth was due to land within the hour.

* * *

Queen Camilla did not have time for such threats right now. She stared at her port-screen, paralysed with a mixture of fear and anger.

The message was brief, but its meaning ran deep with the queen.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

That's all the message said. Five years she had endured this extortion. Five years she had secretly, carefully set aside money for that witch. Five years she had lived in fear for her granddaughter's life and now…

Not good enough.

A green light flashed in the screen's corner. The queen accepted the comm without need to check who it was from. Of course it was her. The Thaumaturge's face filled the screen, her pale lips set in their usual line that was half way between a smile and a sneer.

"Mistress Mallorie," Camilla said in greeting, her tone cold and professional.

"You Majesty," Mallorie bowed her head a little. "I trust you got my message."

"I have done all you have asked." Camilla was not begging. She stated the fact plainly and without show of emotion.

"Clearly not," Mallorie replied. "Otherwise I would not be here to demand recompense."

The screen before Camilla changed. A still photograph replaced the video feed from Mallorie. The picture showed three men, their hands were tied behind their backs and their mouths were gagged. They were kneeling in a line, their faces showed signs of a beating. Camilla knew them instantly. It was half of the team of intelligence team she had assigned to surveillance duty for Mallorie. The team she had had following her movements for the last few years. Camilla's heart sank as the screen switched back to the video feed.

"I do believe my terms were clear." Mallorie continued. "Full _anonymity_ and a healthy stipend in exchange for your miserable granddaughter's life." She paused, purely for effect. "I would have thought you would have learned by now to take me seriously, given what happened to dear, departed Anthony."

Camilla's throat constricted at the mention of her son's name.

"How dare y –"

"You have until midday on Friday," Mallorie interrupted. "You know what you have to do and you know what will happen if you don't."

With that, the link disconnected. Camilla let out a shaky breath. She had two days to stand down the rest of her surveillance team on Mallorie. Two days to give up or Rose would be lost forever.

"Your Majesty?" her Secretary entered the room as Camilla pulled herself together, hiding all trace of her distress at the conversation with Mallorie. "Emperor Kaito has arrived. Princess Rose has gone to greet him."

"Excellent," Camilla replied. "Make sure he is comfortable in his quarters."

The Secretary nodded and went to leave. Camilla thought for a moment.

"Actually," she said, calling the Secretary back. "See if the Emperor will consent to meeting with me before dinner this evening. At 4:30 if he can."

"Of course, Your Majesty." She bowed and left.

Camilla sat back at her desk and tapped a few commands, a plan formulating. It had been a long time since she had had to enlist the assistance of Emperor Kaito's particular contacts. Perhaps with his help, she could solve her Thaumaturge problem.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters...

Author's Note: Sorry if this one is a bit rough around the edges. It's pretty much hot off the press. More to follow soon. Enjoy!

* * *

The Lunar Chronicles:

Bryony-Rose

Chapter Three

Kai's expression was grave.

"Why didn't you come to me soon?" he asked.

The queen smiled thinly. "Fear," she said honestly. "Fear to show weakness to a fellow Union leader. Fear of the repercussions. Fear for –" She cut herself short, not wanting to voice her greatest fear of all.

"Fear for Rose," Kai guessed. His tone softened. "Of course. I didn't mean to be harsh, Your Majesty. It's just a lot to take in."

Mistress Mallorie – a third order Thaumaturge from Levana's Court – was the last of the renegade group who had fled to earth in Cinder's first year of reign. The other five who had escaped had since been captured or killed, but Mallorie had remained at large. Kai had read every brief, every memo, every intelligence report he could lay his hands on trying to track her down. And she had been here, in the very heart of the United Kingdom for five long years. It angered him more than he was letting on that she had kept quiet for so long.

"Do you know where she is?" Kai asked, his usual diplomatic demeanour returning.

"I did," Camilla replied. "But since my surveillance team was compromised, she's been on the move. It has set us back months."

"Don't worry," Kai said. "I can help there. Between the resources I can count on from Luna and the combined skills aboard the Rampion, we can flush her out inside a week." He knew his bravado was a bit much, but he hoped Camilla appreciated the sentiment.

As it happened, she did seem to find a little confidence.

"There's still the matter of getting word to the rest of my team," she said.

"And you have no way to contact them?"

"Not anymore. Mallorie destroyed the D-Comm chips the team had to communicate with base. I don't even know if the rest of the team are even alive. She could be using the whole thing as an excuse to make her move."

Kai nodded in agreement. "That does seem likely. What are your security measures for the party?"

Queen Camilla took a deep breath. "My entire security division has been fitted with the latest model of the Linh-Device."

Kai rolled his eyes. This was the less-than-imaginative name that Linh Adri had given to the microchip that could regulate a person's biochemical output and neutralise the effects of a Lunar's gift. When given to a human, it meant they could not be controlled and that a Lunar glamour was entirely useless.

It was a good start, security wise.

"Smart," Kai said. "What about entrances?"

"All entry to the palace is strictly through the main gate. All other entrances will be locked and sealed ahead of the guests arriving." She paused for a moment. "Even so," she continued. "If you friends would look over the security set up to plug any remaining weaknesses, I would feel happier."

Kai smiled with a little pride. No doubt the fact that Cinder, Thorne, Cress, Scarlet and Wolf had managed to breach the entire New Beijing security system and kidnap him before most of them were old enough to vote – no doubt this had a bearing on the Queen's trust in their skillset.

"I'm sure that can be arranged."

Kai paused to think.

"How much does Rose know about all of this?"

Queen Camilla's face fell. "Nothing," she replied. "She has enough to worry about right now without this."

Kai nodded in sympathy. He remembered a time when his own father tried to shield him from the more unpleasant issues in the empire. Even Torin, when he had first been crowned as Emperor, had tried not to burden him to some extent. Even so, the painful, uncomfortable truth always seemed to find its way into the light.

It would be the same for Rose.

"It may be time, Your Majesty," he said.

Camilla shook her head. "No," she said defiantly. "Not yet. Not until after the party if we can help it. She deserves that at least."

Reluctantly, Kai agreed. It was not his secret to share, after all.

* * *

The control room was a welcome, peaceful reprieve from the rest of the ship, which all of a sudden felt very crowded. With Cinder and Iko clanking about, repairing things left, right and centre; and Hanna and Gregg getting under everyone's feet; and of course Scarlet and Wolf had stuck around to hitch a ride to London with them for the ball; and Cress…

Thorne let out a breath he had not realised he was holding. He reminded himself that it was not their fault that he was so angry. It was no-one's fault, not even his.

No. Scratch that. It was Cinder's fault. It was always her fault. Everything for the last nine years. If she had just left him in that prison… It wasn't so bad there. Three meals a day, a bed. But no sky. That was the one drawback.

And now she wanted to leave!

He sighed again, and loosened his grip on the manual controls. Something bleeped loudly, shaking him from his thoughts.

"Oh, spades," he muttered and hastily pulled up from his current nose dive of a trajectory. "Well done, Captain. Kill everyone on board. Good plan."

He closed his eyes and tried to re-focus on the task at hand – landing on the palace lawn.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder and then slid across his chest as she leaned in to hug him. Her hair brushed the side of his face as she kissed his cheek. She lingered there for a moment and he breathed in the simple scent of soap and the warmth of her lips.

"You're distracted," she said.

Throne took a beat to steady his breath. "Yeah," he said. "Just a bit."

Cress shifted around him and came to sit on the arm of his chair. He looped his arm around her waist, thankful for the comforting contact she provided. They were silent for a while.

"So… Cinder's leaving," he said eventually.

"I heard," Cress replied.

"She wasn't all that good, anyway," Thorne tried to sound lighter than he was feeling. Usually, it was easier to pull off.

"Sure," Cress replied, humouring him. But there was something else gnawing at her. He could tell.

"We're OK, aren't we?" she asked.

Throne felt his heart stop for a beat. With practiced accuracy, he engaged the autopilot for the final run and pulled Cress onto his knee. She turned to face him, her hands resting at the back of his neck. He could see that she had been crying and a pang of guilt wracked him.

"Of course we're OK," he assured her. "We're better than OK. We're amazing." He kissed her, firmly and passionately. He felt her back arch in his embrace. When the kiss broke, he rested his forehead against hers.

"You don't ever have to worry about us," he said. "The fifth world war could break out tomorrow and still nothing would pull us apart. I love you, Cress."

A smile mingled with tears on her cheeks – he couldn't tell if they were tears of sorrow or happiness.

Another round of bleeping tore both of them away from another kiss. Thorne cursed under his breath seeing the ground rushing up to greet them through the window. His hands flew over the controls as the brakes slammed into gear and the ship came to a halting stop two feet from the ground. He could hear the others yelp and complain in the rest of the ship and he shot a grin to Cress.

"Oops," he said.

She returned the grin and led the way out of the control room to the cargo bay to join the others. Thorne took a moment to muster up his usual light hearted, care-free persona. Lunars had their glamours, he thought. He had his smile. Once he was sure there was not a trace of anger or pain on his face, he followed Cress to the cargo bay.

The door was already open when he got there. Cinder had disembarked and had flung herself into Kai's waiting arms, leaving the others with the rest of the luggage. Scarlet was about to heft a rather large looking duffle bag onto her shoulder. Without hesitation, Thorne stepped up to her side and swiped the bag away from her.

"Don't even think of it, _Madame_ ," he said, trying (and failing) to mimic her accent.

Scarlet smiled with appreciation as she headed down the ramp. Thorne realised it was the first thing he had said to her since her announcement. But he tried not to think on that now. He settled the bag on his shoulder and followed her off the ship.

"Captain," Kai greeted him, his arm still around Cinder's waist.

"Your Majesticness," Thorne replied with a deep, jester-like bow. "You're finally stealing her back, then?"

Kai's eyes shifted to Cinder. "Looks like I am," he said.

"Thorne reckons he can replace me in a heartbeat," Cinder said.

"Of course I can." Thorne's light tone was convincing even himself by now. "Because you'll get bored that fast and realise you can't go a day without seeing my handsome face."

Cinder snorted.

"You try to deny it," he continued. "You know deep down it's me you're secretly in love with."

He swaggered off and caught up with Cress. He draped his arm across her shoulders and her arm naturally came to rest around his waist.

"So this party," he said to her casually. "There's going to be alcohol, right?"

"Stars, I hope so," she replied.

Thorne raised an eyebrow at her. It was one thing for him to use drink as a relief for stress. But Cress… It was unheard of. Ever since Winter and Jacin's wedding six years ago, if anyone even mentioned the word champagne, her face turned a little green. Now that had been a party to remember. Or not in Cress' case. Since then, her alcohol consumption had been conservative at the best of times.

Thorne pulled her tighter into his side and gently kissed the top of her head.

"We'll get through this," he said, reassuringly. He only hoped he could believe it himself.

* * *

Rose watched excitedly from the window as the Rampion landed and the crew made their way through the grounds into the palace. Checking herself in the mirror one last time, she ran from her quarters to greet them at the top of the stairs. Her smile spread wide across her face. She came to a stop just as the crew rounded the corner into the lobby. Her eyes quickly sought out Gregg. He returned the gaze, but his eyes were more bashful than hers, as if he thought he shouldn't be caught looking at her like that. His broad shoulders straightened when he saw her and he drew himself to his full height, a full five inches taller than his sister. She too noticed the difference in his stature and followed his gaze up the stairs to Rose. A knowing grin spread across her face and she gave him a sisterly nudge. Rose smiled at the annoyed, awkward glare he gave his sister.

As she descended the stairs towards them, Rose resisted the urge to slide down the bannister. Not because she thought that they would not find that sort of behaviour inappropriate, but because the last time she had done that, her grandmother had installed pressure sensors into the bannisters so she could be alerted the next time she tried it. The scolding was not worth the effort, so she walked instead.

"Hey there, birthday girl," Captain Throne said with a wink.

Rose blushed ever so slightly. Last year, she has spent a week on board the Rampion, helping to distribute the letumosis vaccine. It had been a chance for her to see the sorts of troubles that faced her people. In that week, she had grown to love each and every one of them. Some more than others. She was old enough to recognise the schoolgirl crush she had on Thorne. He seemed used to that sort of thing and probably would have been offended if she hadn't been just a little bit taken with him.

But then there was Gregg. Rose had not been able to stop thinking about him ever since that week. He was the only boy of her own age she had met that had not instantly fawned over her, tripped over himself to try to impress her. He was real and kind and…

She realised she was staring at him. She realised he was staring back. And the rest of them were trying hard to act as if they had not noticed.

Gregg coughed. "Your Highness," he said bowing his head slightly.

Rose was taken aback for a moment. He had _never_ addressed her so formally before. Then she realised who was standing behind her. Her grandmother. Gregg looked like a deer caught in headlights as the queen stepped forward.

"Welcome, friends," the queen said as she came to stand by Rose.

Rose shifted awkwardly, hoping her grandmother had not seen the glances between her and Gregg. If she had, she did not make comment.

"I trust your journey was pleasant," Rose said, trying to address the group and not just Gregg.

"Mostly," Cinder replied. "The landing could have been a bit smoother."

Throne pulled a face of mock guilt. "Not one of my best," he admitted.

Rose stifled a giggle. She had seen the landing from her chambers. It had been anything but smooth.

The queen cleared her throat. Rose noticed a worried glance that passed between her and Emperor Kaito.

"You guest quarters have been arranged," the queen said. "But I wonder if Ms Linh and Ms Darnel would join me in my office first? A matter has arisen that I would like to discuss with you."

Rose's brow creased. What matter? She didn't press for details, though. She had learned quickly after her father died that it did not do to press her grandmother when she was stressed. Clearly she was right now.

Looking equally concerned, Cinder and Cress nodded and followed the queen to her office. Emperor Kaito followed in their wake.

"What's that about?" Throne asked when they were out of earshot.

"I have no idea," Rose replied, staring after them.

As the door to her grandmother's office, Throne shrugged his shoulders. Rose admired his ability to shrug off worry at the drop of a hat.

"Oh well," he said. "No good standing around here all day. We've got a party to get ready for."

"The party's tomorrow," Rose pointed out.

"Yeah, I know." Thorne replied. "But it takes a lot to look this handsome all of the time."

With that, he sauntered past her as if he was a model on a catwalk. The distraction was enough to make her forget the meeting she was not currently privy to. Letting out a laugh, she bounced ahead of him up the stairs, ready to act as the dutiful hostess and show them to their quarters.

On this occasion, her curiosity could wait.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. I am borrowing them only and promise to return them in tact... mostly.

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews so far, they are very encouraging! The chapter is a bit longer than I was intending, but I had a lot of fun writing it. Hope you enjoy! Please leave a review to let me know. Thanks :)

* * *

Chapter Four

"You and your bloody sweet tooth," Gregg complained as Hanna swiped the last of the chocolate sauce off his plate with a strawberry. "That's got us into trouble in the past, or don't you recall?"

His little sister shrugged. She did recall, he knew she did. He had comforted her after enough nightmares to know that. But when it came to deserts, she simply could not help herself.

"You were only going to waste it," she said, licking the rich sauce off her fingers. She sat back in her chair and gazed around the party. This was their first state ball and Gregg could not help feeling out of place.

As shells, they had spent most of their childhoods in a stasis tank on Luna, herded and harvested for their blood. The rush of information and experience that had come flooding at them after that had bordered on traumatic, when Her Majesty Queen Selene had woken the up and set them free. He now knew her as Cinder, the ship's mechanic. That still surprised him on occasions. He was friends with the queen! Former queen, but still. He thought it was impressive.

Then had come Mistress Caprice, the Thaumaturge who had imprisoned them on earth. Who had pinched and prodded them and taken their blood for herself. Who had promised them every sweet thing they could imagine, but only delivered pain and fear instead.

To think they had survived all that and were now attending grand balls like this. It was overwhelming.

"So, are you going to dance with her?" Hanna asked suddenly, drawing Gregg back to the present.

"What?" he asked. He followed Hanna's gaze and found himself watching Rose talk to a group of girls on the other side of the dance floor. She was beautiful. She caught his eye and smiled.

Gregg sank lower in his chair and shook his head. No, he was not going to ask her to dance.

"Why not?" his sister whined. "You like her, don't you?"

"Of course I like her, everyone likes her," he replied, trying to play it cool.

"Yeah, but you _like,_ like her." Hanna's grin was wide; her lips still covered in the remnants of chocolate sauce.

Gregg felt his cheeks blush. He hazarded a glance at Rose. She was still watching him. Still smiling, but it looked strained as if she was trying to look happy and unaffected but was also trying to read his mind as to why he was shying away from her.

"But she's the princess," Gregg said quietly.

Hanna, shuffled her chair closer to his. "That didn't stop you last year," she said in a whisper that was still loud enough to be heard over the noise of the party.

"That was different," Gregg said. "She was on the ship then. It was easy to forget who she was, what she was. But here…" he glanced around the resplendent ballroom that opened out onto the terrace and garden. "This is her home. She's going to be queen someday. What on Earth or Luna combined would she ever see in me?"

Hanna's jovial smile faltered. She glanced back at Rose, whose own smile had vanished in disappointment.

"Well, she obviously sees _something_ ," Hanna said with some indignation.

Gregg was about to ask her to change the subject, when he became aware of someone standing behind his chair.

"Who sees something?" came a familiar voice.

Gregg turned in his chair to greet his old friend with a smile. "Dr Clay," he said as Jacin came to take the seat to his left.

"Gregg, Hanna," he said settling in the seat. "How are you both?"

"I'm fine," Hanna said before Gregg could draw breath. "But Gregg is pining."

Jacin raised an eyebrow. He was never one to waste words when his face could speak for him.

Gregg blushed again. "I'm not pining," he murmured, but his eyes flicked involuntarily towards Rose again.

Jacin noticed the glance and understanding spread over his face.

"Ahh," he said knowingly. He observed Rose for a moment, her own gaze finding its way to Gregg as well.

"Well, it looks like she likes you too," Jacin said, turning his attention back to Gregg. "What's the problem?"

"He's suddenly all knotted by the fact that she's the princess," Hanna replied, again before Gregg could stop her.

Gregg looked at Jacin hoping to find some support there. If anyone could understand what he was going through, it was Jacin.

Instead of offering support, however, Jacin threw back his head and laughed. He laughed a lot.

"Oh, Gregg," he said taking deep breaths to steady himself. "Her being a princess is the least of your worries."

Gregg's brows creased in confusion.

"Look," Jacin continued. "You know the story of me and Winter when we were your age. It almost drove me out of my mind not telling her how I felt."

"Yeah," Gregg interrupted. "But you would have both been in big trouble if you had."

"I know," Jacin agreed. "But who's going to threaten your loved ones if you ask her to dance tonight?"

"There's always her grandmother."

Jacin suppressed a smirk. "Oh, please. Queen Camilla is one of the most forward thinking leaders in the Union. Do you really think that she holds to some outdated garbage about a princess having to go with a prince?" He looked a Rose again, saw the longing lingering in her eyes as she looked at Gregg.

"She likes you Gregg," Jacin confirmed. "In her eyes, that makes you a prince."

With that, Jacin stood to leave their table. He hesitated when Gregg showed no signs of moving, he rolled his eyes and stepped around behind the boy's chair.

Taking hold of the back of Gregg's dinner jacket at the neck, he hauled him out of the chair, his arms flailing all over as he struggled to get his balance.

"Hey!" Gregg protested.

"Stop wasting time," Jacin advised. "Trust me. You will only regret it if you keep silent." He gave Gregg a little shove until he started walking of his own accord.

His feet carried him towards Rose, whose expression brightened the closer he got. By the time he reached her, his heart was pounding so hard in his ears, he could barely hear the music drifting around him. Nervously, he gave a little bow. Rose curtseyed, her cheeks turning a similar shade to that of her dress.

"M-may I have this dance?" Gregg asked. He held his hand out to her, but could not bring himself to meet her eyes. That is until she placed her hand in his. He looked up to see her smiling broadly at him. Taking confidence from her smile. He led her to the dancefloor and away from the group of rather surprised looking friends. Gregg didn't care about their glances. As they started to dance, there may as well have been only the two of them in the world.

* * *

Jacin smiled to himself as he reached the bar and turned to see Gregg and Rose waltzing around the dance floor as if no-one was watching them.

"You can explain that one to the queen," Kai said to him as he came into earshot.

Jacin shrugged. He could take her.

Kai, Thorne and Wolf seemed to have already made themselves comfortable at the bar. He joined them in surveying the party around them. It was the first time that all four of them had been together in one place for a long time. Usually, there was an ease between them, but tonight Jacin sensed Throne was on edge.

"What's up with you?" Jacin asked.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Here we go," he muttered. But it was Wolf who answered him.

"Thorne is grumpy because Cinder is leaving the ship to move back to New Beijing. Apparently it is a personal insult to him."

"Wasn't that sort of inevitable?" Jacin asked.

"Well I had certainly hoped so," Kai said, draining his champagne glass.

"Oh, sure," Thorne spat. "Bring reason into it. Yes, Cinder was bound to leave _at some point_. I just thought – everyone thought it would be years down the line when she was _at least_ engaged."

Kai shifted his weight onto his other foot and reached into his pocket. He tossed a small, blue box to Throne who caught it with ease and opened the lid.

"Oh, spades and ace! Seriously?!"

Jacin glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of the Opal and Diamond ring inside before Thorne snapped the box shut and tossed it back to Kai.

"Does she know you have that?" Jacin asked.

Kai shook his head. "I haven't found the right moment."

Thorne snorted. "The right moment? Knowing your past history, that will be in the middle of a crisis, moments before one of you is whisked away and expected to solve said crisis."

Jacin smiled. He couldn't argue with that.

"Whatever," Kai said defensively. "Bottom line is, she doesn't know, so can we at least keep this between us for now…"

Jacin spotted Iko about ten feet away from them, dancing with one of guests.

"And maybe change the subject," he suggested. "I don't think we can really count on her to be subtle if she overhears us."

There were no arguments from the others and a silence drifted between them as Iko danced past them. When she was out of earshot –

"So, Scarlet's _pregnant_!" said Thorne, shattered the silence like a hammer to a mirror.

Wolf instantly tensed. His brilliant green eyes flashed with mild panic. He turned in his stool and leaned heavily against the bar.

"C'mon fellas," Thorne continued, oblivious. "Who did I bet he'd knock her up first? I know it was one of y–"

Jacin cut him off with a swift, hard punch to the shoulder. Thorne stumbled back a pace and tried to shake some feeling back to his arm.

"Ow! What?!" Thorne complained. "You said change the subject."

Kai's gentle, reassuring hand lited on Wolf's shoulder. He relaxed a little but still looked as though he could tear down the bar in seconds with one hand tied behind his back if he wanted to.

"Congratulations," Kai said quietly.

Wolf's breath seemed to release in on great rush as he sagged into the bar, his hands covering his face before running through his hair.

"Unplanned, I'm guessing," Jacin observed as he signalled to the bar tender for service.

A shot glass and a bottle of whiskey were set in front of Wolf. Ignoring the glass, he took hold of the bottle and drank.

And drank… and drank…

A quarter of the bottle was drained before he set it back on the bar, panting slightly for breath.

"Seriously?" Thorne continued with his usual lack of tact. "You didn't see that coming? You two have been shacked up for years. I'm surprised there's not a whole back of wolflets running around that farm by now."

Jacin caught Kai's gaze over the two of them. Silently, Kai stood Jacin down from punching Thorne again.

"It wasn't exactly unplanned," Wolf said, staring at the bottle in his hand, chipping away at the label with his long, sharp nails. "We'd been trying for a while, but with all the –" he waved his hands, gesturing towards his face – the most obvious display of the genetic manipulation he had been subject to on Luna as one of Levana's pet soldiers. "– We weren't surer we would ever… and then one day…"

He trailed off as warmth started to return to his eyes. He turned and looked a Thorne.

"I was so happy when she told me," he said. "So happy. And then it hit me… I'm going to be a _dad_."

The gravity of his words slowly began to sink into the rest of them. A dad. What did that even mean?!

Jacin saw a muscle clench in Thorne's jaw as he sat down next to Wolf and clapped his hand on his back. It was a gesture of sympathy and support, but there was a tension in it as well that Jacin did not fully understand. After a beat or two of silence, Thorne nudged Wolf with his shoulder.

"How long did it take you to win over those little brats that hang around the town?" he asked.

The townsfolk of Rieux had been somewhat alarmed when Wolf and Scarlet had moved back there.

Wolf shrugged. "A few months, I guess," he replied.

"Right," Thorne continued, swiping the glass of whiskey and draining the contents. "And these days, when you go somewhere on a delivery, how long does it take people to warm to you?"

"Not long, I suppose, but most of that is Scarlet's doing. She always knows what to say and –"

"Exactly." Thorne drained a second glass. "She's in this with you, man. You guys are aces together. Whatever happens, you just gotta take it one day at a time and love that little cub-kid like your lives depend on it."

Wolf seemed to brighten at his words. He even smiled and muttered what sounded like "Thanks," but came out more as a growl.

"Anytime," Thorne replied. "And anyway, I guarantee that even in all of her excitement, Scarlet is going to be as terrified as you right now."

Jacin and Kai blinked in stunned amazement.

"Since when did _you_ become insightful?!" Jacin asked. Kai nodded. Clearly the question had been on his lips as well.

Thorne shrugged. "What? You two don't have the monopoly on the whole good-looking-and-brainy thing, you know." He took another drink before adding. "Besides, I think he'll make a great dad."

There was a seriousness to his tone. A weight that they had not often heard from him. Almost a sense of longing. Jacin, Kai and Wolf all looked at him, worry clear on all of their faces. Thorne stared forwards, doing his best to ignore them. After a while, the stretching silence seemed to be too much for him. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Cress can't have kids," he said. His words fell on them like the sounding of a death knell.

"Oh, stars," Kai exhaled. "When did you find out?"

"A few months back. She got pregnant a couple of years back, but she lost it about two months in." The muscle in his jaw was flexing again. Clearly, he had not talked about this to anyone in a long time, possibly ever. "It was such a shock when she first told me, you know. I was terrified, like you." He looked at Wolf. "But then I thought, hey. If I'm going to have a kid with anyone, who better than Cress, right?"

Jacin filled the empty glass in front of Thorne. As he drank, they all waited with baited breath for his story to continue.

"Then one day, she just doubled over in pain and… I have never been more scared for her in my life. When the initial shock had worn off, we decided to try again… Four miscarriages later, Cress wanted to get checked out and that's when we found out." He paused and swallowed hard. Jacin had never seen Thorne cry. He wasn't sure Thorne wanted to change that now. "It was something to do with Sybil. She did something to her so she couldn't ever carry a baby to term."

"Is there anything they can do?" Kai asked.

Thorne looked at Jacin and his heart sank. Since qualifying as a doctor on Luna, he had heard many stories of the experiments carried out at the command of the Thaumaturges over the years. He did not know the exact details of what could have happened to Cress, but he could make a guess. And it wasn't hopeful.

Thorne half smiled and turned to Kai. "His silence says it all."

Silence fell between them. Jacin wanted to give Throne some sort of reassurance. They could work through it. There were new advancements every day. Something could change… None of it seemed right for now. Everything he thought to say just sounded like an empty platitude. None of them could fully understand what he was going through. The selfish part of him hoped they would never come to.

"Promise me one thing," Thorne said turning to Wolf. "When your daughter is born, never take her for granted. She will be – she _is_ the greatest gift anyone will ever give you."

Wolf nodded, seemingly unable to find his voice. He swiped Thorne into a strong hug. Thorne nearly fell out of his own bar stool, but eagerly returned the hug. Thankful for the brotherly support.

* * *

Cinder was distracted for a moment as, from a distance, she saw Scarlet pull Cress into a close, comforting hug. Cress held her tight and seemed to be crying a little into her shoulder. Cinder's heart constricted, guessing what they had been talking about.

"Greetings, cousin." Winter's lilting voice brought her back to the party.

Winter made her way towards her and kissed her on the cheek. "Madam President," she replied, her smile wide with pride. Even after three years, the novelty of greeting Winter in this way had not worn off.

Usually, Winter would humbly wave off the title, but tonight she did not seem to notice it as her attention was drawn to the dancefloor.

"That's a new development," she said staring at Rose and Gregg as they glided around the floor in each other's arms. The expressions on their faces spoke volumes. There was nowhere that either of them would rather be.

"Not really," Cinder informed her. "You should have seen the last year when Rose was helping out with distribution. The sparks they were giving off then could have powered a small town for a month."

Winter laughed, but Cinder's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Do you feel that?" she asked, glancing around the ballroom.

All of a sudden, she had felt a chill run over her skin. A little orange light began to pulse at the corner of her vision.

 _Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies,_ it said to her. Cinder searched the faces of the guests. Her stomach knotted with tension as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, panic began to swell in her chest.

"Feel what?" Winter asked, trying to follow her gaze.

Cinder stared at her in amazement. How could she _not_ feel it?! But then she remembered the Linh-Device embedded in her central nervous system. The device that had rescued her from the brink of insanity and restored her to the strong, confident woman she was always meant to be. The woman that Jacin always saw when he looked at her, when everyone saw a helpless, mad girl vanishing into her own delusions.

It was protecting her now from the presence Cinder had felt. It was unmistakable. There was a Lunar present. A powerful one. And their intentions were hostile. Waves of anger and hatred overwhelmed Cinder as she frantically searched the crowd.

And then there she was. Cinder finally honed in on the source. A woman in her mid-forties, wearing a shimmering silver gown. At least, that's what she was making everybody see. Cinder blinked and tried to focus her synthetic eyes to see the truth beyond the glamour. It was difficult – that in itself raised enough alarm bells for Cinder to act.

Without a word, she stepped away from Winter, all the time keeping the woman in her in her sights. She spotted Wolf, Jacin, Kai and Thorne by the bar. By the look of things, Wolf and Jacin had sensed it too. Their heads jerked up suddenly and their eyes quickly found Cinder in the crowd. She nodded to them and carefully pointed to the woman in the silver dress. She was making her way towards Rose and Gregg, still dancing and still completely captivated by the other's company.

Cinder had to act quickly. From what the queen had told her just the day before, she knew who she was _really_ looking at. Rose was in grave danger.

She sidled past one of the security guards. "Follow me," she said quietly to him. The guard did not move. He stared blankly ahead as he had been doing before Cinder had approached. She nudged him. Nothing. She waved her hand in front of his face. Not even a minute shift in focus.

Something was wrong. Around the room, she could see the same vacant expressions in the other guards. Swallowing down her panic, she took the guard's gun and briskly pushed through the crowd of guests, one thought dominated her mind. She had to get to Rose. She had to save Rose.

Jacin and Wolf were on their feet as well and moving towards the dancefloor to intercept the woman from the other side.

The woman saw them coming. Her eyes locked on Jacin and he froze to the spot, his expression panicked and pained. Wolf kept coming, his teeth bared, ready to rip her apart. But even he was still a way off.

With horror, Cinder watched as the woman unsheathed what looked like a very sharp pair of dressmaker's scissors. She raised them high above her head as she came closer to Rose. Gregg finally saw her approach and pulled Rose behind him to protect her.

"Stop right there," Cinder said bringing the gun up to the woman's head before she could plunge the scissors down towards Rose and Gregg.

Slowly, she turned to face Cinder.

"Your Majesty," she said with a low bow. Cinder made sure she kept her gun aimed squarely between her eyes. "Such an honour."

"Give up, Mallorie," Cinder said. By now, every eye in the room was on them as the glamour finally fell and Mallorie revealed her long, black Thaumaturge's coat. The belled sleeves brushed the floor as she stood up straight.

Mallorie smiled. It made Cinder shudder, reminding her all too well of Levana's smile. Of Sybil. Of Aimery. Of countless other Thaumaturges she had encountered with the same hateful smile.

"I simply came to wish the princess a happy birthday," she said, her voice silky and sweet. "I'm sure my invitation simply got lost in transmission."

The corners of Cinder's mouth curled slightly. This was the last Thaumaturge. The one who had eluded her for too long. At last, she would be able to rid Earth of the final threat to their peace.

"I'm going to give you the same choice I gave to your brothers and sisters," Cinder said. It surprised her how quickly her authoritative "queen" voice came back to her. "You can surrender now and return to Luna to face trial –"

"Or what?" Mallorie interrupted. "Die here and now at your hand? Your aunt would be so proud."

Cinder heard Wolf growl at the mention of Levana.

"That time is gone, Mallorie," Cinder said, not rising to Mallorie's taunt. "Your kind have no place anymore."

Mallorie laughed, high and shrill "And here I thought you stood for the rights and privileges of _all_."

Cinder hissed in a breath. She could feel her arm growing heavy with holding the gun.

"Besides, _little girl_ ," Mallorie continued. "I am not here for _you_." The scissors in her hand glinted in the light, but instead of raising them again towards Rose, she dropped them to the floor. They landed with a chime against the polished marble. Cinder eyed her with suspicion. Something told her this was not a surrender.

"I came to give the princess a birthday gift," Mallorie said, addressing the whole room. "After all, it is only fitting given the queen's generosity to me over the years."

Muttering spread through the guests, as they tried to fathom her meaning.

"My gift is this," said Mallorie, silencing the crowd. "A promise. That you shall not live to be named Crown Princess. The royal line will die with Her Majesty, Queen Camilla."

Cinder could see the colour drain from Rose's face with fear.

"Do enjoy the rest of the celebration, my dear," she said, turning to Rose. Gregg's hands balled into fists and he stood firmly in the Thaumaturge's path. Mallorie ignored him and continued to speak only to Rose. "You have nothing to fear of me this night. I simply wish now to leave with that which I came for – a party favour." With that, she reached into her belled sleeves and brought out a small glass vial. She smashed it to the floor and immediately, billows of thick, oily, black smoke filled the room.

The Chaos was instantaneous. Cinder could not see anything through the fog. She blinked rapidly, her eyes stinging against whatever toxins were in the smoke. She flailed her arms about, hoping to catch hold of Mallorie, but caught nothing but air and the acrid fumes around her. Sounds of coughing and gasping were all everywhere as the guests struggled to draw breath.

Then a scream pierced the fog. A terrified, blood curdling scream that rattled through to the core of Cinder's being.

 _Rose!_ she thought in a panic. She was helpless to do anything. There were too many people jostling about her. Too much panic. Too much smoke!

She tried to draw breath to call out for Rose, to find where she was. But the air entering her lungs made her choke. She doubled over, unable to control the coughing as her lungs fought for clean air.

It only took two minutes for the smoke to dissipate. Cinder felt it was a lifetime. As the room cleared, Cinder blinked to bring everything back into focus. She looked around wildly at the guests. But there was no sign of Mallorie and no way to tell which way she had gone. Cinder sighed in defeat, but then remembered –

 _Rose._

The scream. She spun around and breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she saw Gregg helping Rose back to her feet.

"Are you OK?" Cinder said, coming to their side. "I heard you scream and –"

Rose coughed and spluttered, but was shaking her head rapidly. "That wasn't –" _Cough_ "me." _Cough._ "It came from over there." She pointed to a spot to her right.

Both Cinder's and Gregg's gaze followed where she was pointing. They looked at an empty table at the edge of the dancefloor. Before the confusion, someone _had_ been sitting there, watching the dancing, enjoying an extra helping of strawberries and chocolate sauce…

If both of Cinder's legs had been flesh and blood, she was sure they would have given way beneath her. As it was, she only half stumbled as she moved towards the table.

"Hanna," she said on a breath.

"No." Gregg was two paces behind her. Her looked around the room wildly. "No, she has to be here. Hanna! HANNA!"

Panic flooded his face as he ran from one side of the room to the other, desperately searching for his sister.

"HANNA!"

It was useless. Cinder knew it was useless. Hanna was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Not mine...

Author's Note: It it actually starting to scare me just how much fun I'm having writing this story! Hope you are all enjoying reading it. Please leave a review to let me know :)

* * *

Chapter Five

The conference room was filled to capacity and it was silent. Cinder took in everyone assembled.

At the far end of the table was Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom and her granddaughter, Princess Rose, the soon to be named Crown Princess. Gregg sat next to her, his hand covering hers in comfort, but his eyes displayed fear and worry for his sister.

Next to them was President Winter Clay of Luna and her husband Dr Jacin Clay. They were followed by Captain Carswell Thorne and Crescent Moon Darnell, the commander and security officer, respectively, of The Rampion. Next was Former Luna Special Operative Ze'ev 'Wolf' Benoit-Kesley and Madame Scarlet Benoit-Kesley, soldiers and comrades of the Luna Rebellion.

To her left was Iko, her dearest and closest friend. To her right was Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth. And then there was herself.

Linh Cinder. Mechanic. Known for a time as Queen Selene Blackburn of Luna. The Lost Queen. The _Last_ Queen.

She gazed around at her friends and allies. With all their titles and ranks and past records of heroics… right now they had one particular thing in common.

They were utterly powerless.

The party had ended several hours ago. The group had scattered throughout the palace and the grounds, each finding a task to fit their skills to start the search in earnest for Mistress Mallorie and Hanna. Poor, sweet Hanna. Cinder still could not even begin to fathom why Mallorie had taken her. Was it a random kidnapping? Or something more calculated?

The time of their meeting had been agreed upon and so here they were, to formulate a plan. To share what they had found. Given the dejected expressions surrounding her, Cinder rather suspected they had not found much.

In the centre of the table was a collection of microchips. Iko had one of them in her hand and was fiddling with it between her fingers. Her synthetic fingernails clicked against the plastic costing around the chip in a steady rhythm. The sound pounded through Cinder's ears, no matter how much she tried to tune it out.

These were the latest models of the Linh-Device. The very ones that had been given to the security team at the ball. These models were designed to be attached at back of the neck, instead of surgically implanted. Once correctly situated, two metal prongs like an outlet socket, pierced the skin and probed until they connected with the spinal cord. As unpleasant as the experience sounded, the new devices were favoured as it was easier to access them to repair glitches or replace them entirely if necessary.

They were also, as it seemed, easier to tamper with. The batch that sat in front of them on the table was completely and irreparably compromised. They were nothing more than a jumble of silicone and wires with a pathetic blinking light to give the illusion of functionality. Useless. Worthless. Mallorie had simply walked in, glamoured the entire room and there was nothing anyone could have done to stop her.

"How did she get to the Devices?" Cinder asked, breaking the silence. Her voice was quiet and searching. Iko seemed to startle at her voice, obviously lost in her own train of thought. The eyes around the table turned to the Queen who paled and shook her head.

"We don't know," she said. "My Agents are investigating. They are scheduled to update me in the morning."

Cinder blinked and pulled up a small clock to her optical display. It was a little after 1:00am. Even with the exhaustion she felt, she had not realised how late the hour was. She blinked the clock away and glanced at Jacin.

He had been sat quietly, twirling the dressmakers' scissors against the table. He held them point down and a small indentation was beginning to show on the mahogany surface.

"Dr Clay?" Cinder said. She did not know why, but using his formal title at this point seemed appropriate. A hangover from her days as queen, no doubt.

Jacin looked up.

"They're poisoned," he said plainly, not needing any more prompting. "It's a compound that was developed on Luna over a decade ago."

"No surprise there," Thorne added for merit. Jacin ignored him.

"It is deadly, of course, but only to its intended victim."

Cinder saw Rose shift uneasily in her seat.

"How so?" she asked.

"It requires a genetic element for its potency to take effect. Once genetic material is added, the poison will only be effective to those markers. It can be used to target a specific group of people… or an individual person."

Rose was trying very hard not to meet anyone's eyes at the table.

"So she had my DNA," she said, squeezing Gregg's hand a little harder for support.

"Not exactly," Jacin explained. "The poison was not an exact match for you…"

He stopped himself. Cinder could tell that whatever he had to say next, it would not be good. Her gaze fell on Queen Camilla.

"It was your father's DNA," Jacin continued.

Rose's head snapped up. She stared in disbelief at Jacin.

"My father's? But he's been dead for –"

"Three years, I know. How did he die?"

Cinder saw Camilla close her eyes. Her jaw was clenched. "It was poison," she said.

Rose looked at her. "You told me he died of a heart attack," her tone was harsh.

Camilla looked down at the table.

"He died instantly?" Jacin asked. The queen nodded.

"And because I'm his daughter, it would have killed me instantly, too?" Tears were forming in Rose's eyes. Clearly, this was too much information to take in on a night that had already been filled with so much emotion – good as well as bad.

Jacin shook his head, his eyes own eyes filled with caring and sympathy.

"No," he said gently. "Not instantly. The dose on these scissors was not strong enough for that, given that you only share half of your father's DNA… It would have killed you, but I'm afraid it would have been a very long and drawn out affair. From what I can tell, you would have slipped into a coma and your internal organs would have begun to fail one by one. It could have taken weeks, perhaps months to kill you fully."

Cinder wished he would stop talking. This was too much for her to take in, let alone Rose.

"What about the dressmaker, herself?" Kai interrupted, steering the conversation away from the scissors. "The real dressmaker?" he asked.

"We found her dead in her shop," Scarlet said, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table.

"She had only been dead for a few hours," Wolf added.

"From what we can tell," Scarlet continued. "Mallorie must have gone there earlier this evening, killed her and taken the scissors to poison. No doubt she hoped to frame the dressmaker for…" she trailed off not wanting to mention death and Rose in the same sentence, as Jacin had just done.

"Do we have any leads on where she could have gone?" Cinder asked. She glanced around each of them, hoping someone would speak up with good news. The room was silent.

"I'm sorry," Cress said eventually. "The power lines to the security cameras was cut. There is no trace of her at all." She shifted and sat a little taller in her chair. "But once we're back in orbit, I can design a programme to search for any footage of her following the party."

Cinder smiled. "Good," she said. "It's a start." She let out a tense breath and looked at Gregg. "We'll get her back," she promised.

Gregg smiled as Rose's other hand came to rest on top of his. It was her turn to comfort him.

"But we are left with a dilemma," Cinder continued. "I think we can all safely assume that Mallorie is not going to rest now that she has shown us her hand."

Beside her, Kai nodded in agreement. "We have to get the princess somewhere far away and secure."

Rose glanced up at him. "You want me to go into hiding?" she asked in surprise, her gaze switching quickly to her grandmother. "You can't… I can't… No, not _now_."

"I'm sorry, Rose," Camilla said. "It's for the best."

"But… the naming ceremony," Rose stammered. "It's in six months. I'm supposed to learn –"

"I want Cinder to be appointed as her bodyguard," Camilla interrupted.

"What?!" The surprise in Cinder's voice was matched by the faces around the table.

"You were the first person to sense her presence. If my granddaughter is going to be taken from the safety of the palace, I want full assurance that she will be _kept_ safe."

Cinder swallowed. She glanced at Kai and held his gaze for a moment. The expression in his eyes turned to resolve and he nodded.

"Alright," she said and turned to Thorne. "We can take her on board the Rampion. Right?"

Thorne nodded. At this, Rose seemed to perk up a bit. No doubt the prospect of being able to spend time with Gregg was appealing.

"We'll need to get a new ID chip for her," Thorne added. "I have a contact in the UK –" Kai glared at him. "– Relax, Your Majesticness, he's a legitimate businessman… mostly. He'll be able to get a clean ID for us."

"How soon?" Cinder asked.

Thorne reached over and took Cress' port-screen. He tapped on the glass for a few moments before handing it back to her.

"Done," he said. "We'll have the chip in the morning."

Cinder couldn't help smiling at his smug look.

"There's still the problem of her face," Winter chimed in.

Rose's brow creased. "What's wrong with my face?"

"Nothing, dear," Winter clarified. "It's lovely. But it is one of the most recognisable on the planet."

Silence fell over the table again. She had a point. Even if they did get her out of the palace without anyone seeing her, there was still no guarantee that no-one would recognise her while she was with them.

Half way down the table, Scarlet raised her head, a thought dawning across he features. She looked at Cinder. She looked at Cress.

"Well," she said, finding her confidence. "There's always that… thing?"

Every eye in the room turned to her. Cress and Cinder's were there only ones who had any sort of comprehension in them.

"OK, what thing?" Thorne asked.

"You think it's ready?" Cinder asked, ignoring Thorne.

Scarlet shrugged. "If anyone can make it ready, it's you two." She indicated Cinder and Cress.

"What are you talking about?" Thorne tried again.

"We don't have to go full body," Cress said, looking between Scarlet and Cinder. "Just the face should be enough."

"Does anyone know what they're on about?!" Thorne raised his voice over the girls.

Cinder, Scarlet and Cress looked as him, as if surprised to find him in the room. "What's the thing?" he enunciated.

"We found it a couple of months ago," Scarlet explained. "I was clearing out the bunker at the farm. The one where…"

She trailed off and looked to Cinder.

"The one where I was made into a cyborg," she said. Kai shifted slightly uncomfortably beside her. "We think it's another one of Linh Garan's inventions."

"It's genius, really," Cress added. "From what we have been able to work out, it's a holographic projector. You attach it somewhere to your body and it projects an image around you."

"Like a glamour," Cinder explained. "Only because it's a digital image, not even shells can detect it."

Cress nodded emphatically in confirmation.

"It's only a prototype," Scarlet continued. "But we could make it work. Well… they could." She pointed to Cinder and Cress.

"Why would Linh Garan invent something like that?" Kai asked.

"We think," Cress answered. "He was going to use it to disguise Cinder's arm and leg."

"Maybe my face, too," Cinder added. "But I don't think he could get it to work in time."

"But you could?"

Cinder shrugged, a gesture of false modesty. "I've been tinkering," she said. "Really, the main problem was the software, but Cress sorted that."

Kai smiled with pride. The look made Cinder's stomach flip. In a good way, of course.

"OK," she said, tearing her attention from Kai to address the rest of the room. "So we're clear? Rose will come with us. We'll have a new ID for her and a new face to keep her away from prying eyes."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Cress, you'll set up the search parameters to find Mallorie," Cinder continued.

Cress smiled and nodded. fingers were already flying over the surface of her port-screen, as if she had already begun to write the necessary code.

"Winter," Cinder said next. "Can I count on you to give us access to any Lunar records on Mallorie. The more information we have –" She cut off, sensing Iko tense up beside her.

"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Iko looked up. She had been silent throughout the meeting. This in itself should have worried Cinder long before now.

"It's just…" Iko said, flashing a guilty look to Winter. "I wanted to know why she took Hanna… So I hacked into the Lunar records to run a search to see if Mallorie had any prior connection to her."

"And?" Cinder prompted, although she was not sure she really wanted to know.

"And… Mallorie used to have a research lab in Artemisia," she explained. "She kept a number of shells, like Sybil did, to use in her research." Her eyes, brown and serious rested on Gregg. "She kept both of you there."

Gregg paled. "What was the research?" he asked.

Iko shook her head. "I don't know. I couldn't get past the last security wall to find out."

"Well," said Throne, "Let's assume it wasn't testing ice cream flavours."

His words were exactly what was needed to break a little of the tension in the room. A ripple of nervous laughter spread across the table and Cinder was thankful for it. She looked at Winter.

"We'll need full access to that file," she said.

"Of course," Winter replied. "Whatever you need, you have the full resources of Luna at your disposal."

"And the Eastern Commonwealth," Kai added.

The meeting soon adjourned. Cinder remained seated at the table as everyone shifted around her, not trusting her weary limbs to carry her upright just yet. Kai came to stand behind her chair, his hands rested on her shoulders. He could feel the tension in them and gently rubbed his fingers into her muscles. Cinder could feel herself begin to relax. She leaned her cheek against his hands.

"So much for our quality time," she said with more than just a hint of self-pity.

Kai planted a gentle kiss on top of her head.

"Come on," he said, offering her his hand to help her out of the chair. "You need rest. We have a lot of work ahead of us."

Cinder smiled wearily. "Don't we always?"


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Still not mine... :(

Author's Note: For some reason, I see Cress and Thorne having a sort of Bonnie and Clyde type of existence... Maybe it's because of the blindfolded shooting scene at the end of Book 3 (love that bit!) Anyway, Chapter six has arrived! Hope you enjoy. Leave a review to let me know. :)

* * *

Chapter Six

For a brief moment when she woke up, everything was perfect. Sunlight was peeking through the drapes and covering her face in its warm glow. After weeks on the Rampion, it was a warmth that was both comforting and invigorating. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck; his body curled around hers; his arm draped across her waist. A contented moan escaped her lips. She could stay like this forever.

But that moment passed. As Cress opened her eyes, she blinked rapidly into the harsh, bright light and the weight of the previous night caught up with her.

Mallorie. Hanna. The search. Rose. She wanted to pull the covers over her head and hide from the world. Only she found she couldn't even do that. Thorne's arm had trapped most of the sheets and she could not budge him. She gave the sheet a tug anyway and tried to wriggle lower into the bed. The movement was enough to disturb Throne, but instead of making it easier for her to bury herself further into the sheets, he gathered her closer to him, effectively immobilising her entirely.

"Erm…" she said, still trying to move away from him. "Capt– … can't… breath..."

His arms constricting around her waist were becoming an issue. She could tell he was awake, though. He was doing it on purpose. She tried to slap at him but could not find a good angle.

At the side of the bed, she heard a ding from her port-screen. She tried to reach for it.

"Carswell…" she pleased.

"What's the password?" He still sounded a little groggy from sleep.

"Get off me now," she replied.

"Nope," Throne said, planting a kiss on her shoulder. "Two more tries."

Cress tried once more to free herself but his arms were strong and held her firm. On any other day, she would have found it endearing.

"We really don't have time for this," she said, pulling at his fingers. They did not move.

"Just say the password."

Cress sighed. "Captain is king."

There was a pause. "No. Not that one." Thorne laughed, deep and low. It reverberated through Cress and sent shivers through her body. She tried very hard to stay focused.

"Carswell!" she said letting her irritation fill her tone.

Laughing some more, Thorne finally released her and she rolled out of his arms and sat at the edge of the bed. Thorne scooted across and ran his fingers over her arms as she took hold of the port-screen. Kisses lightly, playfully brushed her shoulders and the back of her neck. They made her involuntarily arch her back.

It made it very difficult for her to focus on the port-screen.

"The password," Thorne said between kisses. "Was _I love you_."

This seemed to bring Cress to her senses. She pulled a face like she had just eaten something sickly sweet.

"Oh please," she said, playfully pushing him away. "You are such a sap."

She glanced around at him, seeing his eyes for the first time that day. He was grinning at her, his hands folded behind his head His hair was tussled and messy from sleep. The effect of it all brought a slight blush to Cress' cheeks.

She turned back to the port-screen, again trying to focus on the task at hand.

"It's – uh – a message from Mr Skinner," she said handing him the screen.

Mr Ronnie S. Skinner was the 'businessman' Thorne had contacted the night before to obtain a new ID chip for Rose. For some reason that Cress could not work out, Mr Skinner always insisted on using his middle initial when he introduced himself to people. It was as if he was daring people to ask or guess what it stood for. He was an odd sort of man. Short and scrawny, and hunched over most of the time. He always had a look in his eyes like he was trying to see behind him, to make sure no-one was following him.

Mr Skinner was indeed very good at obtaining things and being discrete about it, but they usually came at a price. And that price could be very steep.

Cress did not like him at all and she tried hard not to think about how Thorne had come to know him.

"What did you tell him?" Cress asked.

"Nothing," Thorne replied, the playfulness gone from his eyes and his voice. "Don't worry, I don't trust him enough for that," he continued. "I just told him I needed a clean ID chip for a lady and needed it fast. He'll probably think it's for you again."

A smile tugged at the corner of Cress' lips thinking back to their little mishap around four years ago. It was a very good thing that she was best friends with two of the most powerful people in the galaxy at that point.

"It's ready," Throne said, bringing her back to the present. "We're meeting him in half an hour."

* * *

Thorne was not a big fan of the UK – of its mainland, at least. The Canadian Provinces were alright. But here in London, the weather was miserable. The grey overcast sky hung heavy overhead and rain lazily fell to the ground and slapped against the pavement. He tugged his jacket closer in to his neck as he and Cress exited the podship and made their way down the narrow alleyway to where Skinner had arranged to meet them.

Thorne had wanted to come alone, but he had taught Cress so many handy tricks over the years – concealing a weapon and how to draw quickly, that was one of her specialities these days – that it made more sense to have her there as back up.

He flexed his metal fingers thinking of the day of the rebellion when she had shot the gun from his hand and taken his two finger with it. He had never been more proud of her. It had taken some time for her to be comfortable about picking up a gun again after that. But when she did… Wow! He had never known a more natural markswoman.

A small pang of guilt hit his stomach. He really had been a bad influence on her. Her father had been right – he didn't deserve her.

"You're late, Mr Thorne," he said, his voice grating with each syllable.

"It's _Captain_ Thorne," Cress corrected. "And we're right on time."

He could have kissed her.

Skinner smiled, wide and terrifying. His eyes roamed all over Cress as they came closer. He licked his lips. Thorne felt his skin crawl. He desperately wanted to punch him, but held himself back… just.

"Nice to see you brought the brains of your outfit," Skinner said. "Not bad to look at, is she?" He winked at Cress.

From the corner of his eyes, Throne saw her tense up, clearly as revolted by this little imp of a man as he was.

"We don't have all day, Skinner," Thorne said firmly. "Do you have it or not?"

Skinner tutted and shook his head.

"Why such a rush?" he said. "We haven't even discussed payment."

Thorne huffed out a sigh and folded his arms. "What do you want?"

Skinner's gaze shifted to Cress and then turned back to Thorne, a lecherous grin split his face.

"Well, I wouldn't mind a few hours with that," he said jerking his head towards Cress.

Throne was calm. He would _remain_ calm. He would not…

Skinner licked his lips again. His gaze was all over Cress. Again.

Throne snapped.

He grabbed hold of Skinner by the lapels and shoved him _hard_ against the alley wall. Twice. The air was knocked out of his lungs and he coughed and gasped and still smiled – sneered – at Throne.

"Did I overstep the mark?" he said, taking a deep lungful of air. "Maybe I'll settle for your first born."

Thorne's fist flew so fast, he barely registered the punch himself. He caught Skinner square in the jaw and pulled his arm back for a second blow.

Cress laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and at her silent command, he dropped his arm and dropped the imp.

Skinner crumpled to the ground as Throne stepped back, taking several steadying breaths. Cress placed herself between the two of them.

"Mr Skinner," she said, her tone firm. Thorne had lost many arguments to that tone. "We are not here to play games. We enlisted your services for a legitimate business transaction." As she spoke, she drew the gun from its concealed holster and casually cocked it and pointed it at Skinner's nose.

"Either you are here to complete that transaction or you are wasting our time," Cress continued. "If it is the latter, I can assure you a most unpleasant reward."

Thorne had never been more in love with this woman than at this very moment. She held Skinner's gaze as he gingerly got back to his feet.

"The going rate for a new identity is 1,000 univs," he said, trying to shrink back from Cress' gun.

Thorne knew for a fact that this was an inflated figure.

"We'll pay 600," he said. "Call it a good will gesture for her not shooting you in the face."

Cress smiled. The look in her eyes was just manic enough to unnerve Skinner. He reached into his jacket and brought out a small plastic box. He handed it to Cress who, effortlessly, flawlessly tossed it to Throne without breaking eye contact with Skinner.

Thorne opened the box and stared at the small chip.

"Allow me to introduce Miss Bryony Bell," Skinner explained. "She's clean. Untraceable."

Skinner took out a portable payment scanner as Thorne stepped forward and offered his wrist. Skinner tapped in 600 univs to the device and scanned Thorne's ID chip through his skin, then stowed the scanner safely back in his jacket. He grinned and bowed low.

"A pleasure doing business with you both," he said. Blowing a kiss at Cress, he hurried away, dipping his head against the rain.

Cress finally lowered the gun and shuddered as if as spider had just crawled up her spine.

"Urgh!" she said. "What thoroughly unpleasant little man!"

Without a word, Thorne swooped her into his arms and kissed her firmly on the lips. Cress wobbled off balance in is embrace, but he held her up. When they broke apart, he could see a dizzy haze in her eyes from the kiss.

"You are sensational," he said. "How do I ever deserve you?"

"You don't," Cress replied. "So it's a good thing love doesn't work on merit."

Thorne kissed her again, not caring that the rain was coming down harder, soaking through their hair and clothes.

"Come on then, hell raiser," Thorne said, taking her hand. "Let's get this thing back to Cinder."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Still not mine...

Author's Note: To the Guest reviewer who pointed out my Thorne/Throne typos - Thank you! I had missed them and its always useful to get feedback! So, on with Chapter Seven. Hope you are all still enjoying reading. I'm certainly enjoying writing it so will carry on regardless :) Please leave a review to let me know.

* * *

Chapter Seven

Cinder gently touched the soldering iron to the small, delicate device on her work bench and carefully sealed up the casing. Once it had cooled for a few moments, she picked it up to examine her work. She took it over to the mirror and placed it on her skin over her collar bone. With a sharp pinch, it attached itself to her and she let out of hiss of pain before activating it from her port-screen. She watched as her refection flickered and changed from her usual tanned skin, slender face and messy brown hair to a girl with much paler skin, black hair and bright blue eyes. The girl looked nothing like Cinder. More importantly, she looked nothing like Rose. What really put a smile on her face, though, was the fact that the device itself was also concealed beneath the projection. It really was flawless.

Cinder let out a relieved breath as she deactivated it and gently removed it from her skin. It was ready.

Cress and Iko were busy embedding the new ID chip and now this would be the finishing touch. Once the Rampion was packed, they would be ready to leave.

The search for Mallorie could begin.

* * *

"Bryony Bell," Rose repeated, staring at her stranger's reflection. "I am Bryony Bell."

She flexed her face and was a little unnerved to see the hologram mimic her movements exactly. She stuck her tongue out and crinkled her nose.

Weird.

She turned away from the mirror as the door opened.

"Hi," she said trying to sound bright. "I'm Bryony Bell."

Cinder, Scarlet and Cress came into the room, their expressions held a strange mixture of pity, sympathy, pride and defiance. Rose turned away from them and stared again at the mirror.

It was her eyes that creeped her out the most. They were blue. She had blue eyes. Her own eyes were brown, her hair naturally fair and her face graced with high, slanting cheekbones. This girl had round, rosy cheeks and one or two freckles.

"I've never had freckles before," she said, thinking out loud.

"You'll get used to them," Cress said, trying to sound optimistic.

Rose was not sure she _wanted_ to get used to them. She took in a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks as she released it.

"OK," she said. "I suppose it's time to go."

She had already said goodbye to her grandmother. She had not wanted her to see the new face. It would have been too strange for them both.

It had been a brief goodbye. Rose was still smarting from the revelation of what Camilla had kept from her for years. She thought they shared everything. Clearly not.

Rose stepped away from the mirror and headed for the door without meeting the gaze of the three women behind her. She heaved the door open and stopped dead in her tracks.

On the other side of the door was Gregg, his hand raised as if he had been about to knock. He stared at her, wide eyed. Rose stared back. Her heart hammered in her chest. The lack of recognition on his face was crushing.

"Hi," Rose said adopting her chipper tone again. "I'm Bryony Bell."

She hoped that the more times she said it, the more real it would feel. So far, it had not.

Gregg seemed to remember himself. He smiled at her. It was the smile she had seen as they danced.

"You still sound like you," he said.

Rose felt herself relax. She smiled, grateful for the small glimmer of recognition.

He took hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Allow me to escort you to your ship, Miss Bell," he said.

Behind her, Rose could sense Cinder, Scarlet and Cress trying their best to stifle grins. She ignored them. At this point, she didn't care if her feelings for Gregg were plain to see. With her face hidden and Gregg at her side, she suddenly felt more at liberty to be herself than ever before.

* * *

In the cargo bay of the Rampion, Cinder shoved hard against the crate and forced it to shift into place next to the others. This was the last of their supplies. They were now fully stocked and ready to leave.

Cinder still felt far from ready to leave as Kai circled his arms around her and she clung to him.

"I had arranged a private river cruise for us today," he said in her ear.

Cinder sighed. "You're telling me this now?" she said, not really wanting to know what she was missing out on with him.

"Yes," he said, not taking the hint.

Cinder rolled her eyes as he continued.

"We would have taken in all of the sights on the Thames. St Paul's, the Glass Towers, the ruins of Big Ben and the Parliament building, the Royal Gardens." He turned her around to face him. "I think it would have been a wonderful day. Even in the rain."

Cinder laughed, despite herself. "So do I," she admitted.

"Good. Then let's imagine we've done all of that and we've strolled through the palace garden and back to our quarters."

Cinder's brow creased as he continued.

"That's where I'd planned – hoped – to do this…" In one fluid movement, Kai removed something from his pocket, a small box, and knelt on one knee before her. Cinder's breath caught in her chest. Her heart rate increased and she blinked away the retina display, not caring at all about her vital stats right now.

"Linh Cinder," he said. "Queen Selene Blackburn of Luna."

Cider rolled her eyes at hearing her formal title. "Former," she said. " _Former_ queen, but go on."

Kai smiled. "I am never one to admit lightly that Captain Thorne is right, but he did predict I would end up doing this in the middle of a crisis."

"It would have been wrong any other way," Cinder commented, hoping he would get to the actual question soon. Her answer was poised and ready.

"Cinder, you have surprised and inspired me every day since we met. Would you do me the greatest honour of being my wife?"

He opened the box in his hands. Cinder took in the sight of the ring – the shimmering Opal looked like the moon on a clear summer evening, the Diamonds blinked like stars.

A smile spread across Cinder's face. She nodded quickly.

"Yes," she said, her voice barely a whisper, but it was loud enough for his ears. His smile matched hers as he stood and pulled her into his arms.

The kiss took her back to their first kiss, in this same spot. So much had changed since then, but the rush of adrenaline and emotion when his lips touched hers was the same. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair. She never wanted to let him go. Ever. It was at times like these that she wished she could cry. The waves of joy and excitement flowing over her seemed to have nowhere to go. The feeling was almost intoxicating.

She was still smiling as the kiss ended. So was Kai. Their foreheads rested against each other.

"I couldn't let you leave today without asking that first," he said.

 _Leave_. The word hit the pit of Cinder's stomach like a bolder. She lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

"I love you so much," she said. "When the queen said she wanted me to do this, I so wanted to refuse."

"I know," Kai replied. "But it's not forever. We'll get her. As soon as I'm back in New Beijing, I'll get Torin to put together a taskforce to work with Camilla's team. When the time comes, you'll have all the back-up you'll need."

Cinder smiled. "The perks of having friends in high places."

Kai laughed.

"Come on," he said taking the ring from its box. "Let's make this official."

Cinder offered him her right hand – the one that was still flesh and blood. She wanted to feel the ring there always. Kai gently slid the ring onto her fourth finger. A perfect fit.

Cinder stared at her hand, delighted at how the white gold band and the gems stood out and shone against her olive-tanned skin.

"I really hope the ship doesn't break down now," she said. "because I never want to take this off."

Kai was about to reply when an excited scream drew their attention to the door.

Iko came bouncing towards them and grabbed hold of Cinder's hand.

"Oh!" she said, not even trying to contain her energy. "You finally asked her! Oh, it's perfect! You're going to be Empress! It's about time! Oh, I'm so happy for you!"

Her exclamations were drawing a crowd. Soon the others gathered to see what the commotion was about. Winter and Jacin, Cress and Thorne, Scarlet and Wolf, each offered their congratulations. It took a full quarter of an hour for the excited chatter to die down.

As it did, Cinder glanced around her friends. These were the eight people she loved and trusted and cared about and laughed with the most in the entire universe. It staggered her to think how tightly they had banded together all those years ago for a single cause – her. And now, those bonds had deepened and matured as they had grown together.

Silence fell between them as similar thoughts played across each of their faces. Thoughts of the past. Thoughts of the future. Thoughts of the task at hand and the dangers they would soon face. But they were together. Always together, even with miles between them.

"What? Are we waiting for a group hug or something?" Thorne said, breaking the silence.

He lived to regret the quip, though, as the other eight piled in around him and smothered him in a tight, and slightly rough group hug.

When they moved away, he was gasping for breath and his hair stood at several odd angles. There was a lipstick print on his cheek in the same shade that Iko was wearing.

"Right," he said trying to sound authoritative. "Time we were shoving off."

Winter and Jacin were the first to say their goodbyes to Cinder. Their ship was leaving later that day for Luna. As they parted, Winter handed Cinder a micro-drive.

"That's everything I could find on Mallorie," she said. "I'll send word if I find more."

Scarlet embraced her next. She and Wolf would head back to France aboard Winter's ship.

"I'm so happy for you," Cinder said. "You take care of yourself."

Scarlet smiled and whipped a tear from her eyes.

"Come back in one piece," she said as she left arm in arm with Wolf.

Cress and Thorne headed to the control room to prep for take-off and to make sure Rose (Bryony as they now had to call her) were settled and ready. Cress had to nudge Iko to go with them and Cinder smiled her gratitude as she and Kai were left alone in the cargo bay once more.

There was enough time for one more embrace, one more kiss and a painful, shaky goodbye.

"I love you," Kai said stepping off the ramp. "Keep safe."

"I promise."

With that, Cinder raised the ramp and closed the cargo bay door. She saw Kai step back out of the way and her heart constricted as he disappeared from view.

She felt the roar of the engine kick in and steadied herself as the ship lifted off the ground.

Cinder gave herself two breaths to feel sorry for being parted from Kai again. Two breath was all she could allow right now. Once she released the second breath, she headed up to the control room with the micro-drive from Winter.

As the Rampion soared upwards to break the outer atmosphere and settle into a safe, undetected orbit, those left aboard gather together.

Their work was just beginning.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Still not mine - just on loan

Author's Note: So... Chapter eight... I reckon I'm just over half way through. Cannot believe I've only been working on this for a week and a half. I have NEVER written anything this fast before. Please leave a review to let me know your thoughts :)

* * *

Chapter Eight

Earth stretched out beneath them like a jewel in space. She could see the curve of the planet and the shining brilliance of the sun on the oceans. Snow-capped mountains glinted in the light. Lush green forests stretched endlessly over the continents. She could see the United Kingdom drifting beneath them. She could point quite easily to London. Home. She missed it terribly.

Rose was hiding in her room aboard the Rampion. It had been Scarlet's room back in the day, someone had told her. The view from the small port-hole like window was stunning. I her last three weeks on board, she had spent a lot of time here, trying to guess where on the planet bellow Mallorie could be hiding. Today, she had decided she must be in the Highlands of Scotland. Who wouldn't want to hide there? With its rugged hills and lochs and miles upon miles of open spaces, it's where Rose would have picked.

She had not set foot on Earth for ten days now and was ready to see the sky again. The Rampion was still keeping up with its deliveries of the letumosis vaccine. They had decided that to reduce their work would draw too much suspicion. Every time they landed somewhere, Rose would pace her room five times, repeating to herself, _My name is Bryony. I answer to Bryony_.

She had come to hate that name. The only time she felt at ease was when Gregg was near. Despite the changes to her outward appearance, he never looked at her any differently, apart from one small thing from time-to-time – there was a sadness in his expression. This usually came when he caught the smell of sweet baking, or when Iko playfully teased him about Rose, anytime there was something that reminded him of his sister.

There was a knock at the door. Cinder entered holding a mug of hot liquid.

"If there's one thing the UK and the Eastern Commonwealth have in common," she said closing the door behind her. "It's that we fully appreciate the importance of a cup of tea in a time of need."

Rose smiled and took the mug from Cinder. She breathed deeply of the tea's aroma rising with the steam.

"Thank you," she said. She turned her gaze back to the view of Earth.

Cinder shifted awkwardly for a moment before sitting herself down on the end of Rose's bed.

"You missing home?" she asked.

Rose nodded.

"I miss my grandmother."

Cinder smiled in sympathy.

"I also miss my studies. Is that too crazy?" Rose continued. "I'm supposed to be spending the next few months learning all about the Earthen Union states. All the leaders and diplomats and their customs and how _not_ to offend everyone…"

"Crown Princess 101," Cinder commented.

Rose laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. I was dreading it."

"Well, yeah. It sounds boring."

"But right now it doesn't seem all that bad. Now I'm just worried that when – if – I get to the naming ceremony, I won't know what to do."

Cinder shifted on the bed and fixed Rose with a serious expression. "OK, firstly, it's _when_ you get to the naming ceremony. Not if. We're not going to let anything happen to you."

 _Famous last words_ , thought Rose, but she kept it to herself.

"Secondly, you've been preparing for this all your life. You'll be fine."

Rose wasn't convinced.

"Do you know the names of the Union Leaders?" Cinder prompted.

Rose nodded. She was about to list them, but Cinder continued.

"Can you point to the capital cities of the Union countries on a map?"

Rose nodded again.

"What's the capital of Luna?"

"Artemisia."

"And who's head of state on Luna?"

"President Clay."

"Right, well you already know more than I did on my coronation day. You'll be fine."

Rose looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yes," came Cinder's reply. "There's no training manual for being queen. Most of the time you just have to make decisions and hope for the best… It's not so bad when you get into it, really."

"Then why did you abdicate?" The intensity in Rose's question made Cinder's expression falter for a moment.

"Because it was right for Luna," she said. "Becoming queen was hard. There's no denying that. But giving it up was harder."

Rose raised her eyebrows. This was not the response she had expected.

"Luna needed change," Cinder explained. "The monarchy system had left them too vulnerable to manipulation and dictatorship – it wasn't anything like the UK or the Eastern Commonwealth with their royal families. I knew the day I became queen that things had to change. You see, when you're in that sort of position, having authority like that, you can't help feeling responsible for everyone. Because you are. And it completely changes your perspective. You see the big picture in a way you couldn't possibly be prepared for."

Rose's gaze drifted back to the window, to the planet peacefully turning below them.

"You mean like seeing Earth from up here?"

"Exactly," Cinder agreed. "But even knowing all of that and knowing it was the right thing, walking away from it all was still, by far, the hardest thing I have ever done."

"Do you ever regret it?"

"What?" Cinder asked. "Being queen or giving it up?"

Rose shrugged. "Both."

"No," Cinder smiled. "Not for a second."

Rose thought about what she had said as she sipped her tea. The warm liquid soothed as she swallowed it and she could feel herself beginning to relax a little.

"Come on," Cinder said hopping off the bed. "Dinner's nearly ready. We should get there before Gregg and Thorne devour the lot."

Rose laughed as she followed. As she reached the door, she took one last look at the Earth as it disappeared from sight with the turn of the Rampion. Her heart was saddened slightly as it left the window, but she knew it was not permanent. She would see her home again soon.

* * *

Hanna had not yet cried today. She wondered if she was finally out of tears. Her body shook with fear as she curled up on the bed and prayed that the door would not open. She had been locked up for weeks now. She assumed it was weeks. It felt like weeks. There were no windows in her room and every time someone came to take her somewhere, they placed a bag over her head so she could not see. She had been moved three times since her captivity began. No doubt the Thaumaturge was not staying in one place for too long to avoid discovery. Every time the bag was placed over her head, she willed her friends to be one step closer to her this time.

She stared out at the rest of her room. Over the other side was a gurney – the one Mistress Mallorie strapped her to each morning. She shuddered looking at it. The memory of pain throbbed in her bones and muscles.

With a shaking hand, Hanna reached up and felt along the side of her face. She reached her right temple and felt the bump of metal still there. The small, metal device the side of her thumbnail and pressed to the side of her head was the Mistress' invention. It sent bolts of pain screaming through her head and could conjure the most vivid, terrifying, nightmarish hallucinations that Hanna could ever imagine. There were times that the only way she could tell the difference between these nightmares and reality was the pain in her head.

Hanna winced and retreated as far as she could from the door as the bolts clunked open.

Mistress Mallorie entered, followed by her usual lackey, Crowe, a former palace guard permanently under her control.

"Good morning, my dear," said Mallorie as Crowe set about arranging the equipment he had brought in with him.

The sight of it made Hanna whimper. Once Crowe had finished with the equipment, he crossed the room and dragged Hanna from the bed. She kicked and scratched and punched against him, but he was too strong for her. He easily deposited her on the gurney and strapped her in.

"Now, now," Mallorie said at her resistance. "We must play fairly today. After all, that horrible little device is coming off today."

Hanna looked up at Mallorie, hope filled her eyes as Crowe pulled the small metal device off her temple. Relief flooded her face.

Mallorie laughed. No, she cackled, setting Hanna on edge again.

"Foolish child," said Mallorie. "I have a new one for you to try."

Hanna thrashed about on the gurney, turning her head away from Crowe as he approached with the new device. He roughly took hold of her chin and yanked her head back towards him. The pain in her neck was nothing compared to what she was about to experience. She knew that for a fact.

A sting of pain, like a needle going through her skull, accompanied the new device as it was pressed to her temple. Hanna shut her eyes to dispel the pain.

As Crowe busied himself with wires and machines to monitor her vital signs, Hanna held Mallorie's gaze. She hoped her expression was defiant, but was pretty sure she could not fully hide her own fear.

"Now then," said Mallorie. "Let's see that this does." Mallorie held her hand over a single red button.

"No, please," Hanna begged. It had been days since she had given Mallorie the satisfaction of pleading out loud, but at this point, she really didn't know how much more her mind and body would withstand.

Mallorie paused for the briefest of moments before a sadistic smile crept over her face. Her hand descended on to the button.

The pain was immediate. Every muscle in her body spasmed, her back arched off the gurney as white hot pain shot down her spine and spread into her limbs. Her whole body shook and writhed. Hanna's screams filled the room and the corridor beyond.

Mallorie simply stood and observed like a curious scientist.

"Hmm…" she said. "Interesting."

* * *

"Bryony!" Cress called over to her. "Could you help me with this?"

The Rampion had landed in Brazil and the vaccine was in high demand here. Rose hurried over to Cress and lifted the top tray from the stack of six she was guarding.

"Where am I taking this?" she asked, blowing a lock of black hair out of her eyes. Cress pointed to where Cinder and Iko stood at the head of a long line of people. They had masks over their faces – as Cress and Rose had – and hypodermic needles in their hands. Cinder was filling her needle from the last vial of vaccine on the tray beside her.

Rose (disguised as Bryony, she still had to keep reminding herself of that) dutifully carried the tray over and took away the empty one.

It wasn't until sometime later that she was able to stop for a rest. By now, the sun was high overhead and the landscape was sticky and humid in its light. Rose peeled the thin cotton over-shirt off her shoulders and tossed it to one side, leaving only her vest underneath. That too was drenched in sweat.

A bowl of lukewarm – no longer cold – water was set beside her and she thankfully dipped her hands into it and splashed her face. She wanted to pour the whole thing over her head, but was not sure the holo-glam chip would survive. Holo-glam was the name that Thorne had given to the projection device. A holographic-glamour, he had reasoned. It seemed to suit it, so the name had stuck.

"Nice tattoo."

The sound of Gregg's voice behind her startled her.

"How come I haven't seen it before?"

Rose blushed and rubbed the back of her right shoulder.

"Oh, that," she said self-consciously. "Well, I usually have it covered with clothes or make-up," she explained. "My grandmother doesn't think it should be on display."

"What is it?" Gregg asked.

"It's a dragon," she answered. "A welsh dragon."

Gregg looked confused.

"It's a mythical creature," she explained, realising that life as a shall on Luna had denied him much access to old legends. "They were fierce and breathed fire and it usually took and army to defeat one… or a brave and handsome prince."

Gregg rolled his eyes. "Of course. So why the tattoo?"

"It's for my father," she answered plainly. "In the second-era, the Crown Prince of the UK was known as the Prince of Wales. This was on their flag. I got this after he died, to remember him."

Gregg smiled.

Rose turned away from him. She still wasn't entirely comfortable with her new face.

"How are you holding up?" Gregg asked as if reading her mind.

Rose shrugged. She glanced around to see where the others were. They had been so kind to her that she didn't want them to hear how unhappy she was.

"Honestly," she said, confident they were alone. "I just want this to be over with."

Gregg's smile slipped. "You and me both," he said.

Thoughts of Hanna came rushing into Rose's mind. She mentally kicked herself.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "That was so selfish. I'm sure we'll find Han –"

Gregg waved his hand to stop her.

"It's alright," he said. "You've got enough to worry about as it is."

His understanding only made Rose feel worse.

"When was the last time you…" He pointed at her collarbone, in the vague area that the holo-glam chip was attached. Rose self-consciously felt for it.

"I haven't been me since we left London," she said. "I mean, I'm still _me_ , I just don't look… you know what I mean."

Gregg nodded. He looked over her shoulder at the line of trees behind her. He looked quickly around to see no-one watching them.

"Come with me," he said taking her hand.

Rose followed willingly as they headed for the tree line. They went far enough in to be completely hidden, but not so far as to lose sight of the Rampion.

Gregg stood Rose in front of him and took Cinder's port-screen out of his back pocket.

"How did you get that?" Rose asked, wide eyed.

Gregg smiled cheekily. "I swiped it while she was re-stocking. Look." He pulled up a programme on the screen and selected a command labelled "Deactivate."

There was a slight shimmer in front of Rose's vision. At the corner of her eye, she noticed fair hair, not black. She grabbed hold of a bunch of it and pulled it in front of her eyes to see properly. It was definitely her own.

"I thought that might bring a smile to your face. A proper smile," Gregg said. "But I want to you know, I don't see the difference. It doesn't matter to me whether you look like Bryony or whether you look like Rose. I know you're the same inside."

Rose couldn't stop herself. She threw her arms around his neck and leaned it, kissing him on the lips. After the initial surprise had worn off, Gregg kissed her back, his hands slipping to her waist as he pulled her closer to himself. Their lips were hungry for each other as the tension and worry of the last few weeks washed away from them.

They broke apart, but only kept a breath of distance between them. Gregg looked down and quickly hit the "Activate" button on the port-screen, not wanting to risk anyone seeing through her disguise.

"Thank you, Gregg," said Rose, the smile still on her changed face. "My hero."

"And you're my princess," Gregg replied. "My Bryony-Rose."

He kissed her again, sealing her name between them. Bryony-Rose. It was his alone to call her.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine...

Author's Note: Sorry the updates haven't been as speedy this week. The days sort of got away from me a bit. Anyway, chapter nine is in and hopefully chapter ten will follow either tomorrow or Saturday. Please leave a review with any and all comments! Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter Nine

A bite of frost caught his breath as he exhaled, the vapour turning to fog. It was mid-October. Harvest time on the farm. The Rampion had taken a well-earned break there. After four months of searching and digging through Mallorie's past only to come up empty handed, morale on the ship had been low. Too low. It was starting to get even Thorne down. Scarlet had suggested they spend some time in France to recharge. What a blasted con _that_ had turned out to be! Turns out all she wanted was some free (well, cheap) labour to bring the Harvest in. With her pregnancy progressing to the point where she could no longer touch her toes and she waddled like a duck when she walked (yes, Thorne had been punched in the face by Wolf for that comment), there were certain items of machinery she could no longer operate safely. Fortunately, for Thorne, there was an absolute treasure trove of mechanical parts in the farm's hanger and he had been able to haggle with Scarlet to let him take his pick.

The time that afforded him alone in the hanger to riffle through everything was bliss. With the exception of Gregg, who barely said more than two words at a time and was too busy making doe eyes at Rose (Bryony… whatever), Thorne had been entirely surrounded by female voices since departing London in June. Four months. _Four months_! If he had to listen to one more conversation about shoes, he would probably club his own ears off with a pair of Iko's stilettoes. As long as he didn't use the purple and gold ones, they were her favourites. He hated himself just a little bit for knowing that.

In the silence of the hanger, Thorne nearly jumped out of his skin as his port-screen rang beside him.

INCOMING COMMLINK

JACIN CLAY

AUDIO AND VISUAL REQUESTED

ANSWER COMM?

Thorne answered and held the screen in front of his face for the video link.

"You better not be reverse charging this," he said before Jacin could even say hello. "Do you know how much inter-planetary calls cost these days?"

Jacin laughed. "Don't worry, you're safe. How is everyone?"

"We're good," Thorne replied. "Do you want me to get them?"

"No, no, it's OK. It's you I wanted to speak to."

Thorne felt a twinge of unease begin to grow in his stomach. Jacin never made a personal call to him. Usually if he called it was to update everyone with some development on Luna.

"Oh," he said uncertainly. "OK. What's up?"

He found a sturdy looking crate to perch on as Jacin took a breath. No time for small talk with him.

"It's to do with what we were talking about at the ball. About you and Cress."

Thorne was glad he was sitting down (more or less). This was not a subject he liked to talk about. He had not been too happy with himself that night with the way he had blurted out their biggest secret to the others. Until then, Cinder was the only other person who knew and that was simply because her cyborg voodoo had seen right through them both when they tried to pretend it wasn't happening. And, of course, she had then threatened to beat it out of him if he didn't tell her.

He clenched his jaw and nodded as Jacin continued.

"It's just with looking into what Mallorie was up to all those years ago on Luna, I…" He seemed to hesitate. There was a line that he was about to cross and there would be no way to unsay this conversation. "I found some of the experiment notes that Sybil had made as well. Experiments that involved Cress."

Blood rushed through Thorne's veins, it pounded in his ears. This was the sorest of all sore subjects for him and for Cress. Sensing his discomfort, Jacin continued.

"I think I know what she did to her."

There was a pause as his words filtered into Thorne's understanding.

"You know?" he asked.

Jacin nodded. "I have a pretty good idea," he clarified.

"Can you… do you…" Thorne could barely dare to hope. "Could it be undone?"

Jacin looked uncertain for a moment. "Possibly," he said carefully. "Look, I don't want to get your hopes up here. What I'm talking about is very much in the experimental stages itself. It could take months, years even to have any sort of effect and even then there is no guarantee... What I'm trying to say is there is a chance."

A chance. That was more than they had yesterday and in Thorne's books, that made all the difference. A chance they could have children together. A chance to help Cress.

But then the thought of Cress made him pause once more. The thought of her going through tests and drug trials and disappointment and more tests. The thought of more possible miscarriages. Of having to start again, over and over. Could they take that strain? Could she?

"Obviously, I'm not asking you to decide now," Jacin said. "This will be Cress' choice ultimately, but you'll have to discuss it together. I just… I thought you should know."

Thorne nodded. "Yeah," he said, still half dazed. "Thanks… It means a lot."

Jacin smiled thinly through the screen and gave a single nod, his usual signal that he would press the subject no further.

"So," Thorne said, trying to sound lighter than he felt. "How's the rest of the research going? Any progress on the poison?"

Jacin shrugged his shoulders. "It's slow going," he said. "It's made harder by the fact that it has been programmed to her father's DNA and not to Rose's, but we're making some progress. I'll let you all know when we have something."

Something drew Jacin's attention away from the screen for a moment.

"That's Winter," he said looking back at the screen. "She sends her greeting."

Thorne smiled. "Tell her I say 'hey.' I should probably let you go."

Jacin nodded again.

"And thanks, really. For everything."

"Anytime," Jacin replied and ended the comm.

Thorne sat back against the crate and let out a tense breath. As if he didn't have enough to think about and come to terms with. Now there was this as well.

* * *

"You know," Scarlet said in her best grown-up voice. "Just because we're harvesting more wheat right now doesn't mean we're allowed to waste the flour we have."

None of the occupants of the kitchen seemed to take her seriously at all, given that she too was covered head to toe in the stuff and had not five minutes ago made two perfect flour-handprints on Cress' back.

With Thorne scavenging in the hanger, and Wolf, Cinder and Gregg out in the fields, Cress, Scarlet, Iko and Rose had retreated to the kitchen to prepare dinner for when their toil was done for the day. Scarlet had pointed out that as an android, Iko would probably feel more useful helping outdoors. Iko, in return had insisted that with Cinder in the fields, she simply had to stay indoors t guard Rose. Plus, she did not want to brake a nail. They were very expensive to replace.

And so their venture in making fresh bread had descended into an inevitable, impromptu food fight. All four were grinning as they dusted flour out of their faces and off their clothes as much as possible and settled back around the kitchen table.

Scarlet plunged her hands back into the mixing bowl and roughly pushed and pulled the dough before turning it out onto the table to knead it some more. The others watched her, mesmerised.

Cress, for one, was surprised she was still able to do it, given how big she was getting. She couldn't help the small pang of jealousy that gnawed at her, seeing how healthy and vibrant and glowing she looked. She looked away and shook her head, chastising herself for the thought.

 _I am happy for her,_ she reminded herself. And she really meant it.

"So," Scarlet said, dumping the dough back in the bowl and covering it with a damp cloth. She set it to one side to rise. "What have I been missing?" She sat down next to Cress and, while the other two weren't looking, she gently squeezed her hand in silent support. Cress smiled in appreciation.

"Well, Rose and Gregg have been making gooey eyes at each other for months," Iko said, nudging Rose with her shoulders.

Even with the holo-glam hiding her true face, Rose could not hide the blush that flushed her cheeks.

"Oooooh!" Scarlet cooed. "Just eyes, though? In four months? I don't know, kids today."

"We can't all make our move after a day or two," Cress quipped.

"And some of us don't fall in love with a net-feed," Scarlet replied. "So, come on details, details. I get no girl chat whatsoever around here."

"Well," said Rose, still blushing. "I suppose it's not _just_ eyes…"

Cress and Iko looked shocked.

"Whaaat?" Iko voiced. "No way. I would have known."

Rose's blush deepened. "I kissed him," she said quietly.

The collective shriek that sounded around the table was enough to disturb a flock of pigeons outside the window. Cress was surprised that Wolf had not heard it out in the fields and bounded back, assuming they were under attack.

"When?" asked Cress.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!" Iko demanded. "Oh my stars, I have to comm Cinder right now!"

A guilty giggle escaped Rose's lips as she took a breath.

"It was when we were in Brazil," she said.

Cress raised her eyebrows. "Brazil? That was two months ago. You've kept this quiet for _two months_?!"

Rose ignored their questions. She launched into the story as if it had been burning inside her for weeks, dying to be told. She told them how he had taken them to a secluded spot in the forest near where they had landed. How he had temporarily stolen Cinder's port-screen so she could be herself for five minutes. What he had said to her before she…

"Awwww!" Iko said as her story came to an end. "That's so sweet. So how was it?"

"Iko," Scarlet protested on Rose's behalf. "You can't just ask that… But, yeah, how was it?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "I thought you were all supposed to be grown-up? You're worse than the fourteen year olds in my school."

"Oh, please," said Cress. "When it comes to matters of the heart, no-one ever really grows up."

"And we're not _that_ old, thank you," Scarlet added defensively. "Wise, sure, but not old."

"Nice try, princess," Iko said, bringing them back on topic. "We're not getting distracted that easily. Come on. Kiss and tell."

Rose shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "It was…"

Cress thought back to her own first kiss. She thought how mortified she would be if she had to put that into words. She was not sure she could.

"Sticky," Rose said.

" _Sticky_?!" all three of them chorused at once.

"Well, we were in the middle of the rainforest, it was kinda hot – temperature wise, I mean… Well, what do you want me to say?!"

"Did he kiss back?" Iko asked first.

"Of course he did, Iko, she wouldn't be telling us otherwise," Scarlet answered.

"Well then, did your stomach do that flip thing?" Iko asked next.

Roe blushed again and nodded. Iko squeaked.

"Where were his hands?"

"Iko!" Scarlet protested again. "Don't answer that. There is such a thing as too much information here. We still have to look the boy in the eye at dinner time."

"Was it what you hoped it would be?" Cress asked.

Rose considered for a moment before a smile spread over her lips.

"It was more," she replied. "He called me his Bryony-Rose."

Iko all but fell off her chair in a swoon.

"Oh, that's so romantic," she said. "You humans get all the fun."

A look of relief shot across Rose's face like a lightning bolt as the kitchen door opened. Thorne came in, his face pulled into a look of serious thought. It was not an expression that Cress took lightly. But as he looked up and glanced around the four of them, this expression was replaced with confusion.

"What in all the stars happened in here?" he asked.

Cress glanced around the table. In all the talk of young love and first kisses, she had completely forgotten the fact that they were each covered in flour.

"Just a minor disturbance of a culinary nature," Scarlet said without missing a beat. "It's all under control, Captain. Nothing to worry about."

"A minor disturbance of a culinary nature?" Thorne repeated. "You had a food fight and didn't invite me? Please tell me one of you lovely ladies had the wherewithal to film the event?"

All of them shook their heads as one.

Thorne rolled his eyes in mock disgust. "Figures."

He came to sit on the bench beside Cress, looping his arm around her waist and kissing her cheek as he sat down. Cress giggled when she saw the imprint of flour around his mouth. She did not have the heart to tell him it was there.

Before long, the others made their way into the kitchen and the conversation turned to many other things.

"Is everything OK?" Cress asked Thorne when the others were too engrossed in conversation to take notice of them.

Thorne looked at her for a moment. "Yeah," he said. "It's just…" he glanced round the room for a second and changed his mind. "You know, it can wait. Don't worry. I'll tell you later." With that, he kissed her on the forehead and smiled, trying his best to assure her all was well.

Cress didn't believe him for a second. Something had rattled him and now she desperately wanted to know what. But looking at everyone gathered, with the smell of fresh bread and the promise of dinner edging closer with every minute, she too felt it was a conversation best kept for later.

* * *

No more tears. No more pain. No more fear. No more nightmares or vision of monsters. No more thoughts at all. This was her Mistress' doing. She was free of it all. The small metal disc on her head had done that. The disc from her Mistress. It blinked, a small red light, on and off. On and off. On and off. Hypnotic. As regular as breathing. All was quiet and still in her head. And only one desire remained.

To serve.

The door to Hanna's room opened and Mistress Mallorie entered.

"Good morning, Hanna," she said.

"Mistress Mallorie," Hanna replied with a low bow. As she stood back up straight, Mallorie's smile was wide with delight. She took a seat in the one comfortable chair in the room – the one Hanna was forbidden to touch.

"Now then. Fetch me some water."

Without hesitation, Hanna set about pouring a glass of water from the pitcher by her bed. She presented it caringly to Mallorie.

It may not have been the greatest command to start off with, but Mallorie was no less pleased with the results. After all, this had been her life's work and today, it was paying off. Just imagine what she could do tomorrow…

Crowe entered and wordlessly handed her a port-screen. It showed an aerial photograph of a cold looking field. At the edge of the field was parked a ship. A cargo ship. Rampion class to be exact. Mallorie read the location at the edge of the screen. _Rieux, France._

The smile returned to Mallorie's face.

"Hanna, dear," she said. "How would you like to go hunting tomorrow?"


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine...

Author's Note: OK, folks. Hold onto your hats. It's gonna get bumpy! Please leave a review with any thoughts/suggestions :)

* * *

Chapter Ten

A thin line of mist hung over the barley field, casting an eerie silence over the farm as the late Autumn sun sluggishly peaked over the horizon. It was Scarlet's favourite time of the day, when all was at peace. Before the work began in earnest. Before the busy-ness of life took over.

"Have you found anything at all?" she asked Cinder, who was the only other member of the household awake at his point. They were sat together in the kitchen – the arguer burning away making it the warmest room in the old farmhouse at this time of the year – waiting for the others to surface.

Cinder pulled a face. "Not much," she replied. "Mallorie was incredibly secretive and a lot of her notes have been encrypted. Cress has had some success in cracking them, but even she has struggled."

Scarlet raised her eyebrows. She had not heard of code Cress couldn't crack until today.

"Whatever she was working on," Cinder continued. "It had something to do with finding a way to control shells."

Scarlet paused. "Do you think that's why she took Hanna?"

"It's possible," Cinder agreed. "I mean, there's that and Hanna was one of her original test subjects."

The thought of that sweet girl being treated like a lab rat made Scarlet feel sick to her stomach. Her gaze flicked to the field out of the window. The sun was beginning to burn through the mist and catch the tops of the barley sheaves. The field looked like it was burning with gold.

Something shifted in the distance and drew Scarlet's attention. A bird, probably, flying over the field. She turned her attention back to Cinder.

"Is there any point in me asking if you've set a date yet?" she asked, looking at the glowing opal ring on her finger.

Cinder smiled. "We haven't even had the official announcement yet," she said. "I'm fairly certain I won't get much say in the planning when we do get to that part."

Scarlet scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. You're the bride. You get to make demands and get your way on _everything._ "

"Yes," Cinder replied. "But this is going to be a _state_ wedding. There will be an entire team of diplomats just to do the seating arrangement, let alone anything else."

"I wish I had had a team of diplomats to do _my_ seating arrangement," Scarlet mused.

Cinder laughed. "Anyway, we're a way off that at the moment. There's too much going on for either of us to focus on planning the wedding yet."

Scarlet nodded. But her attention was pulled back to the field. Movement had caught the corner of her eye again. This time, she got up from the table and crossed to the window for a better look. Sometimes she wondered if living with Wolf had heightened her own sense of paranoia. His altered senses made him extremely jumpy on occasions.

As if on cue, Wolf came tumbling into the kitchen, his eyes bright and alert.

"Something's wrong," Scarlet said to him – a statement not a question.

"What?" Cinder asked, still blissfully unaware of any possible danger.

"Someone's out there," Wolf said in reply.

Then Scarlet saw it. The shift of movement in the field wasn't a bird at all. It was a person – no, more than that, _ten_ people – moving slowly and carefully towards the house. She backed away from the window and headed straight for a storage cupboard on the other side of the kitchen. She reached inside and pulled out a shotgun. With practiced precision, Scarlet loaded the gun and edged back to the Window.

"You'd better go wake the others," Scarlet said to Cinder as she raised the gun to her shoulder.

She barely had time to think as it was snatched from her grasp. Wolf fixed her with a serious glare.

" _You_ wake the others," he said. "There's no way you're getting into a shootout right now."

Scarlet glared back at him and thought about arguing with him, but the baby stirred and kicked, as if agreeing with her father. _Traitor,_ Scarlet thought.

"Fine," she said. She leaned over to kiss Wolf. "Just be careful." Wolf nodded and passed a handgun to Cinder.

As Scarlet left the kitchen, she saw the pair of them slowly open the back door and step out onto the porch. They were alert and ready to strike. Scarlet couldn't shake her unease as she headed upstairs to alert the others. The day that had started so perfectly was not going to end well.

* * *

A hand clamped over Cress' mouth, jerking her awake in an instant. She tried to scream, but the hand prevented her. Her eyes flew open and quickly found Thorne standing over her. He brought a finger to his lips. His eyes were serious. Cress nodded and he lowered his hand from her mouth. The panic in her veins did not subside. There was a reason he had woken her like this and it was not going to be good.

"What's wrong?" she said in a whisper.

Thorne beckoned her forward and silently directed her towards one side of the window as he took to the other. The curtains were still closed. The gaps at the edges were just wide enough for her to see out to the field at the back of the farmhouse.

"Oh stars," she breathed. He eyes wide in shock and fear.

Moving slowly through the field, she could see ten figures. Nine of them walked hunched over. Their broad shoulders tense and ready for a fight. Wolf soldiers. There was only one person who would possibly still have control over such people – Cress refused to call them beasts, despite having seen first-hand how they could fight.

"It has to be Mallorie," she said quietly.

Thorne nodded in agreement, his jaw tense. He pointed to his own eyes and then out of the window at the final figure in the group. _Look_ , he told her silently.

Cress followed to where he was pointing. The tenth person in the field, leading the soldiers forward made her gasp.

"No," she said. She leaned against the window frame to steady herself. "It can't be."

Tears threatened to build in her eyes, but she forced them back. She watched in horror as Hanna raised a fist to halt the soldiers and crouch in the long stalks of the barley field.

"What's that?" Cress asked, her eyes drawn to a blinking red light on the girl's forehead.

Thorne shook his head.

"We need to warn the others," he said. "We need to find a weapon."

Cress was about to protest that there was no way she would shoot Hanna, when Scarlet came bursting through the door.

"We're being attacked," she said without even hinting at a _Good Morning_.

"We've noticed," Thorne replied dryly. "Have you seen by whom?"

Scarlet crossed to the window. Her shoulders sagged on seeing Hanna in the lead.

"Cinder was just saying Mallorie had been working on controlling shells," she said looking at Cress. "I guess she had a break through."

Cress nodded gravely.

"Where are the others?" Thorne asked, focusing on the task at hand.

"Wolf and Cinder have gone out to face them," Scarlet said, her tone direct and to the point, a perfect military commander. "We're in here –"

She cut off as the door swung open again.

"Hanna," said Iko, distress on her face as well as in her voice. "It's Hanna!"

She was followed in by Gregg and Bryony-Rose, both looking shell-shocked at seeing Hanna in the field.

"We know," Scarlet replied. "We've seen."

Without wasting a second, Scarlet crossed to the foot of the bed and wrenched open the large wooden trunk there. She tossed aside blankets and sheets that were on top and heaved a false bottom out of the middle of the trunk. Cress, Thorne and the others gathered over her shoulder to see what lay beneath.

Guns. Lots of guns. More guns than Cress had seen since she had first stepped aboard the Rampion. In fact, she was pretty sure some of these had been on the Rampion at one point. They looked like they were American military issue. Cress glanced at Thorne, trying to gage whether he knew they were here. His expression suggested he had no idea at all.

"There's a stash like this in each of the bedrooms," Scarlet explained. "Get yourselves armed."

"Have you and Wolf even _heard_ of child-proofing?" Thorne asked as he took a six-barrelled scatter gun from Scarlet. She didn't answer him.

Cress helped her to stand up straight and looked around the room.

"Cress, you and I should stay up here. We can lay down cover fire from the windows, maybe try to take out the soldiers."

Cress nodded, choosing an assault rifle from the pile. She caught an admiring look from Thorne and winked at him as she loaded the gun and headed back to the window.

"I'll go and help Wolf and Cinder outside," Thorne said, earning a nod of approval from Scarlet. He swooped Cress up with one are and kissed her goodbye as if it would be for the last time. She sincerely hoped it would not be.

"Iko," Scarlet said, handing the android a hand gun. "You should get Gregg and Bryony out the back. Head to the hanger and –"

"No way!" Gregg protested. "That's my sister down there. I'm not going to leave her to –"

"You're a shell, Gregg," Scarlet pointed out. "Right now, you, Cress and Iko are the only ones who can't be controlled by Mallorie. With Cress up here with me, you and Iko are Bryony's best chance to stay safe."

Cress could see that he was still torn.

Scarlet placed her hand on the back of his neck and forced him to look her in the eye.

"We will look out for her here," she said. "Bryony has to be your priority right now. It's hard, but that's just how it is."

Gregg set his jaw with determination and reluctantly nodded. He picked another weapon from the pile together with a box of ammo and followed Iko out of the room. Bryony-Rose was the last to leave.

"We haven't seen Mallorie yet," Cress pointed out. "Just be careful."

Bryony-Rose nodded and followed the others.

Cress turned her attention back to the field below them. She could see Wolf, Cinder and Thorne standing as a first line of defence. Slowly and gently, Cress cracked the window open an inch, making sure the movement was not sudden enough to draw the attention of the soldiers below.

She let out a steadying breath as she brought the rifle to her shoulder and took aim.

* * *

The sight of Hanna before them, the device on her head blinking red – on and off, on and off – made Cinder's stomach twist with both fear and anger.

"No sign of the boss," Thorne said quietly beside her.

Cinder nodded. She too had noted Mallorie's absence. She did not think it was a good sign at all.

Cinder's mind reached out. In her years as queen, she had received special tutelage in using her Luna gift. The training had given her such command of her gift that she could now easily control an entire pack of Lunar Special Operatives. She gently imprinted her thoughts onto Wolf and Thorne – for protection only. They knew her well enough and trusted her for that. She reached out further. She could feel the bioelectricity pulsing off the soldiers. Hungry. Violent. Primal. They would take a little time to tame in this state, but she knew she could do it. Eventually.

But Hanna was still closed to her. Just as she always had been. Just as Gregg and Cress were. The device on her head clearly gave control to Mallorie, but it did not seem that anyone could interfere with that control. Cinder was going to have to find another way.

Her gun raised, Cinder stepped forward. She felt Wolf and Thorne flinch beside her, but she held them back. Re-assuring them with her thoughts.

"Hanna," she said softly, non-threateningly. "It's me. It's Cinder."

Hanna's attention snapped to Cinder. She crouched a little lower in the barley and Cinder could imagine her muscles coiling tighter and tighter, ready to spring into action without a moment's warning.

"We're friends, Hanna," she continued. "We don't want to hurt you."

For the briefest of moments, a look of recognition flashed across Hanna's face, but it was replaced by a grimace of pain.

"No friends," she said, her voice no longer soft and sweet as Cinder had known her, but rough and forced. "Only the Mistress."

These were not her words, Cinder reminded herself. This was not their Hanna.

"I don't want to hurt you," she said. "But that doesn't mean I won't."

Hanna let out a snarl that Cinder would have thought had come from one of the soldiers if she had not seen the expression on the girl's face twist with hostility and rage before her.

A howl went up with the soldiers. As one, they attacked.

* * *

She couldn't get a clear shot at them. As the soldiers advanced, their movements were jumbled and erratic. It would be too easy to hit one of her friends. Instead, Cress fired at the ground in front of Cinder and the others. She fired to the sides. She fired behind the soldiers. She fired anywhere she could see that would distract the soldiers even for a split second to give the others time to retaliate. As she turned away from the window to reload, Scarlet took over. From the sound of it, she was adopting a similar tactic.

Cress turned back to the window and took aim again. One soldier reared up, ready to strike at Cinder. He was hers. She squeezed the trigger. The soldier dropped and didn't move.

"One down," she muttered to herself.

"Eight to go," Scarlet replied.

* * *

Cinder had forgotten the fierce waves of rage that accompanied battle. She had forgotten the confusion and the terror. She had forgotten to put on a jacket.

"Aaaahh!" she cried out as Hanna' teeth closed around the flesh on her right arm.

She balled her metal hand into her fist and swung hard at the side of Hanna's face. Hanna released her and stepped back several paces. Cinder hoped she may have damaged the device as well, but it blinked on as hypnotic as ever. As she regathered her own thoughts, she reached out again for Wolf and Thorne. They were still very much with her. The connection she had with them spurred them on. It fed back to her as well. She could feel their energy pulsing around her. Feel the rush of blood in their ears as well as her own. She felt Wolf's animal wildness and Thorne's disciplined strength. They added to her determination. They were an unbeatable team.

Hanna shook her head out and rolled her neck, cracking the bones in her spine as she held Cinder in her sights. Cinder had just enough time to brace herself before Hanna launched at her again.

The boom of gunshots rattled through his head and thundered so strongly through the ground and into his body that they became his heartbeat. Gregg clung to Bryony-Rose's hand as they raced out of the back door and headed away from the fight. They followed Iko towards the hanger. He could tell that she was not happy to be leaving her friends in the fray. She wasn't happy to feel so useless to them right now. He caught sight of Hanna as she ran at Cinder, her arms flailing and wild, her eyes cold and hostile. He was looking at a completely different person wearing his sister's face. His steps faltered and he stumbled to a stop.

Iko was at his side in an instant, pulling him forward.

"Come on!" she demanded. "We can't stop here. We can't help them like this."

Gregg's feet were moving again, his hand still holding Bryony-Rose's. But his eyes would not leave Hanna. He would _never_ leave Hanna. She was his world. His only connection to any kind of family that they shared. They had survived so much together. Fought everything together. And yet here she was, against them. Against him.

The hanger door was mere feet in front of them. Iko reached it first and heaved it open two feet, wide enough for them to enter.

Suddenly, the world shifted. Gregg was knocked to the right, the air forced out of his lungs in one complete breath. He fell to the ground, landing hard on his right arm. A weight pinning him from the left. He glanced round and stared his attacker in the eyes.

It was a man, a few years older than Gregg, with black hair and dark, hollow eyes. His nose was hooked and crooked. His skin pale and gaunt. He wore the old uniform of a Palace Guard; the kind he only ever saw when Jacin was in a reminiscent mood.

Adrenaline pumped through Gregg's body as he swung his elbow and connected with the man's jaw, knocking him off balance enough for Gregg to struggle free. He scrambled to his feet and was back at Bryony-Rose's side in seconds. His eyes found Iko as she backed out of the hanger with her gun pointing at a woman in a long black coat with silver runes decorating the edges.

Mallorie.

Gregg instinctively pulled Bryony-Rose behind him to protect her.

"How quaint," Mallorie said, her voice as sickly sweet and black as liquorice. "Two shells between me and my prize."

Gregg saw Iko's jaw twitch as she bit back the truth of her identity.

"Crowe," Mallorie said, making a welcoming gesture towards Iko.

The man who had tackled Gregg was back on his feet and had now turned his attention to Iko. Seeing the flash of aggression in his eyes, Iko turned her gun on him. Mallorie casually stepped around her.

"Well, that just leaves one."

Gregg stood his ground. He would not fear her. She could not control him. He would protect Bryony-Rose.

He repeated this to himself, hoping to believe it as he felt his heart racing in terror as Mallorie stepped closer to him.

"Did you really believe I would not find her?" Mallorie said, her voice still calm and perfect. "Did you think I would not know the queen would turn to her pathetic allies to conceal her? Did you think a cheap trick could disguise her from me?" Mallorie was so close to him, if he had had a knife he could have pierced her heart. Her voice had grown harder and colder as she approached and now the true extent of her malice was clear on her face.

In desperation, Gregg swung his fist, but she caught his arm and, with as much effort as one would use to swat a fly, she pushed him to the ground and out of the way.

"Hello, dear princess," she said.

Gregg looked up in time to see the look of panic on Bryony-Rose's face as her own hand reached up and tore the holo-glam chip from her own shoulder. She let out a cry of pain as it disconnected, revealing her own terrified face beneath. Her skin was red where the device had been.

"I've been looking for you," Mallorie said, her voice once again like silk.

A dull _thud_ to his left drew his attention and Gregg looked over in time to see Iko's body crumple against the hanger door. Crowe stepped around her and came to stand beside his mistress.

"We don't need him," Mallorie said to Crowe. "Just the girl."

At her command, Crowe moved towards Gregg. There was no time for Gregg to get to his feet. He tried to back away.

A boot connected solidly with his head. Gregg slumped to the ground and into blackness.

* * *

Victory was close. So close. She could feel the sweet joy that came with it rising in her veins. She stared at the helpless, weeping princess in front of her, paralysed by her own will. A cruel smile crept on to Mallorie's lips as she took the girl's mind. The weeping stopped. The silent tears were all that remained. Silently, she guided her forwards. She was in complete control. She could make her dance if she wanted to. She could make her kill the worthless shells, her would-be protectors. But no, it would be far more satisfying for them to live with the knowledge that they had failed.

Silently, Mallorie drew a long thin dagger from her billowing sleeves. Its blade caught a little of the sun's brilliance as she held it in front of her. Crowe came to her side and held out the vial of poison that had been prepared. Almost ceremoniously, Mallorie dipped the tip of the blade into the poison. She had dreamt of this moment for many months now. Her swift and satisfying revenge on the queen that would crippled the United Kingdom's royal bloodline once and for all.

Mallorie held the blade out towards the princess. With her mind, she lifted the girl's hand towards the blade.

"One touch," she said. "That's all. Just one."

Her words did not matter. The princess was hers to control. With her face blank and lifeless, the princess stepped forward with her hand outstretched. She reached her middle finger towards the blade and Mallorie suddenly felt her resistance rise.

The girl's hand hesitated. Determination crept into her eyes. Mallorie's smile faltered as she concentrated her gift just a little more.

Finally, her middle finger touched the tip of the blade. A blossom of blood ran down her hand. There was a gasp of breath and fear returned to her eyes. She collapsed. Still. Lifeless. But not dead.

Death would be slow for her. Mallorie's victory was complete.

* * *

Six soldiers remained. Cinder could feel her limbs growing heavy with exhaustion. She could feel Wolf and Thorne beginning to tire. Around her, she could hear the gunfire from the upstairs windows. She could feel bullets whizzing past her face.

Hanna stood over her as she collapsed to her knees. A fist came down hard against her head and stars danced in her vision. She didn't even try to read the green words of her retinal display as it churned through the various injuries and vital statistics of her heart rate and breathing and adrenaline levels and blood loss.

She could see another blow coming from Hanna and raised her hand to block it. But she didn't see the kick coming. It connected with her already sore ribs and she was sent spiralling into the barley. She lay flat on her back, trying to catch her breath.

Hanna took hold of her metal leg and began to drag her across the field. Every stone and grain and clod of earth raked against her back and neck as she struggled to release herself from Hanna's grasp.

 _When did she get this strong?_ was all she could think.

She heard Wolf and Thorne try to break through the line of soldiers to come to her aid, but they were held back.

At last Hanna stopped and let go of her leg. Cinder tried to stand up, but the three hostile faces staring at her forced her to stay down. Hanna, Mallorie and a gaunt looking man seemed to sneer at her as one, before Mallorie lifted her gaze to the rest of the battlefield.

"You fools!" She said, her voice carrying across the field as loud as the gunshots.

Instantly, the whole place fell silent. Deathly silent.

"Did you think you could defeat _me_?" she demanded. She all but doubled over laughing. A harsh, shrill sound that set Cinder's teeth on edge.

"Well," Mallorie continued. "Here is your precious princess." Cinder looked as the gaunt man heaved Rose's limp body over his shoulder. She gasped and tried to reach for her, but Hanna held her back, throwing a black hood over her face, plunging her into darkness.

Mallorie laughed again. "And your pathetic queen."

Cinder fought as hard as she could against Hanna as her arms were bound behind her. Hanna punched her hard in the back of the head to hold her still. It was effective. Cinder stopped struggling, but did not lose consciousness.

"Please," Mallorie continued. "Return to Queen Camilla. Tell her of your failure. Tell her she will never see her precious granddaughter again."

Cinder was hauled off the ground and forced to stumble along blindly as she was led away by Hanna. She felt the ground change from hard earth to metal as she was shoved onto a ship. She felt the thud of a weight land beside her. Rose.

Something sharp dug into her skin and she felt liquid swell in her veins as it was forced in through a syringe. It took a mere matter of seconds for the world to tilt and swim as consciousness ebbed away.

All was black and silent.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own these characters (well, most of them anyway)

Author's Note: Bit random, but this chapter sort of has a soundtrack. I ended up listening to Gaeta's Lament from Battlestar Galactica (season 4) while I was writing this chapter and it just seemed to fit quite well. If you haven't heard it, go check it out. It's an amazing, haunting song. Anyway. please leave a review with any comments. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Eleven

It was by no means easy to knock out an android. But as it turned out, slamming their head into a sheet metal door was one way to do it.

Iko's visual display rebooted and ran through the system diagnostics. The damage was minimal and she had no pain receptors to warn her otherwise. The impact hadn't even broken the skin. She sat herself straight up and blinked a few times to allow her circuitry to realign properly. She glanced around at the others beginning to gather. Gregg was sat a few feet from her, his head in his hands. He shrugged off the comforting hand Cres tried to lay on his shoulder.

"I take it, it didn't end well," Iko said quietly as Thorne came into earshot.

Thorne shook his head.

"They took Cinder," he said. "And Rose is –"

 _Thud!_ The noise drew his and Iko's attention. Gregg was on his feet. He had kicked over a metal bucket with chicken feed. He kicked it again for good measure. But it didn't seem to be enough. He picked up a number of fist-sized rocks from the path and hurled them at the hanger door. They clattered off it with every throw, shattering the stillness that had fallen since the attack ended.

Iko watched him uneasily. He was usually so calm, so quiet. Every sound as the stones hit the door reverberated through her and seemed to punctuate her own thoughts as she processed what Thorne had said.

Cinder. _Bang._ Rose. _Bang._ Hanna. _Bang. Bang. Bang!_

"Aaaaaaaaarrgh!" Gregg cried as he sunk to his knees in despair and frustration.

No-one stopped him. No-one tried to comfort him. They were each grieving to their own degrees. Cress and Scarlet, tears in their eyes, stood in the comforting embrace of their respective partners. Iko couldn't help envying them just a little.

"I'm going after them," Gregg said suddenly.

"Of course we're going after them," Thorne replied, taking a step away from Cress.

Gregg shook his head and got to his feet.

"No, I mean I'm going. _Now,_ " he said firmly. "I'm taking a podship."

"Like stars you are!" Throne replied.

"Why not?!"

"Because you don't know how to fly it!"

Gregg started to walk away. "Well you can fly one, how hard could it be?"

"Gregg," Throne called after him. "Gregg! Stop!"

Throne jogged over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Gregg turned so fast and punched Thorne square in the jaw, it wasn't until Iko saw Thorne's head snap back that she realised the blow had been struck.

Gregg carried on walking away as Cress came to Thorne's side.

"We should maybe give him a minute," Iko said, hoping her insight would be useful.

"A minute?" Scarlet commented. "He may need a full hour."

* * *

Gregg didn't care if he would be searching for the rest of his life. Three of the most important people in his life had just been snatched away from him and he was sick and tired of feeling helpless. Useless. Worthless. A good-for-nothing shell who could be used for experiments and spare parts.

Not anymore.

He paced around his small room on the Rampion, throwing clothes and his few keep-sakes into a bag. His thoughts fixed on the three women he was determined to find.

 _Cinder_ – the queen who had freed him from endless, dreamless sleep. The one who had spent months searching for him and his sister when Mistress Caprice had taken them. How was he ever – _ever_ – going to repay that sort of kindness? She would never ask for anything in return, but that didn't mean he wouldn't offer up the world to help her. To help any of the crew. They had done so much – taken him in, taught him pretty much everything he knew. Given him a home and a place to belong. There was no way he could abandon Cinder now.

 _Rose_ – Princess Rose of the United Kingdom. The most breath-taking person he had ever met. Sure, she was beautiful. Everyone could see that. The million-plus followers she had on the net-feeds could see that. But Gregg had seen so much more in her. He had seen her heart. The compassion she had for everyone she met. The grace with which she carried out her duties without complaint. The way her warmth and jovial nature seemed to spark and ignite from within and shine in her eyes and her smile. All he wanted to do was see her smile. He thought back to the kiss they had shared in Brazil. He thought of that moment of pure surprise when her lips first touched his. He had thought about that kiss every day since and wondered if it had meant as much to her as it did to him. He couldn't help but wonder if he was still kidding himself that a princess like her would care for a shell like him. Could ever love him…

He caught himself and shoved the fear aside. He thought instead of her hand in his as they ran from the fight. Of the security they had both shared with each other, even for the briefest moment before she was taken from him. A wave of determination swept over him and he continued to pack. He was coming for her. He would not let her down again.

A picture stopped him dead in his tracks. It was a picture of him and Hanna on her sixteenth birthday last year.

 _Hanna_ – the third and possibly most important person in his life. Holding the picture in his hand, he sank onto the edge of his bed.

He remembered the day he had been woken from the stasis pod on Luna. Everything had been so strange and confusing. They told him he was a shall. That he was safe. That he was free. What did that even mean?

They told him he had a sister.

He was nine years old at the time and could not even speak yet after the long sleep. There in the bed next to him was his _sister_. His kin. His blood. She was sleeping. He could tell she was younger than him. She was so small and peaceful. He got out of his bed and sat on the edge of hers. He took hold of her hand and counted the similarities he could see between her fingers and his – the shape of the nails, the crinkles in her knuckles. They were the same. When her eyes finally opened, he silently promised to love and protect her always. No-one would ever separate them again.

And until June this year, he had kept that promise.

A sob escaped his lungs and his shoulders began to shake. "I'm sorry," he whispered to the photograph. "I'm so sorry."

Movement at the door snapped him back to the present. He jumped off the bed and tossed the picture aside as Thorne came into the room. Gregg noticed the bruise forming around Thorne's jaw, but he was too strung out to muster up any sense of guilt or even amusement at the sight.

"Gregg," Thorne said quietly. "I can't let you just leave like this."

"You can't stop me," Gregg replied, cursing himself as tears stung his eyes. "I'm not a prisoner."

"Of course you're not," said Thorne. "But you are part of my crew, which means I'm responsible for you. Just like I'm responsible for Cinder. And Hanna. And Rose."

"Yeah, well you've done a fine job of looking after them, haven't you?" Gregg spat.

"You don't think I know that?"

Gregg paused. The guilt and remorse in Thorne's voice caught him so completely off guard, he forgot his own anger for a moment. He looked at Thorne.

Thorne looked at the floor, his hands shoved into his pockets.

"I don't think you know what they mean to me," Gregg said. "I can't just –"

"Are you kidding me?" Thorne interrupted. "I know you love Rose." He said it like it was clear to the whole world. Warmth rose in Gregg's cheeks and a lump caught in his throat.

"I know if it was Cress in danger…" Thorne continued. "And trust me, I've been there. I know the feeling well. As for your sister…" Thorne stopped for a moment, his lips pursed like there was a secret waiting to escape. He let out a heavy sigh before he continued.

"Cinder saved my life, you know. In more ways than one. She got me out of that prison in New Beijing. She… Well, she drives me mad, honestly. I mean, she never just does as she's told and she drags me into these crazy crusades at the drop of a hat. Spades! She repainted my ship without so much as a heads up!"

He paused and fixed Gregg with a serious gaze. "She's the closest damn thing I have to a sister and, stars above, there is nothing I wouldn't do for her… Well you know, within reason."

Gregg could appreciate his words. He knew they were heart felt. He felt a little of his restlessness slip away, replaced instead by exhaustion. He sank back onto the edge of his bed. The picture of him and Hanna caught his attention again and he could not hold back is grief any longer. His whole body shook as tears coursed down his cheeks. Thorne pulled him into a comforting hug and Gregg balled his hands into fists, trying desperately to regain some control over his emotions. It didn't work.

"I was supposed to protect her," he said, his voice muffled by Thorne's shoulder.

"I know," Thorne replied. "So was I."

Gradually, Gregg began to feel his heart rate slow. He breathing evened out. The tears began to dry.

"Listen," Throne said, releasing Gregg. He sat back and looked him in the eye. "We are going to get them back. Together. No power in the galaxy can stop us."

Gregg returned Throne's determined look. He released a tense breath and for the first time since his sister had been taken from him, he began to feel strong again. This time would be different, he thought. This time, he would not fail them.

* * *

The dense fog of the drugs was beginning to lift as Cinder returned to consciousness. Her head lolled from side to side as she struggled to regain control of the muscles in her neck. Her head pounded and bright green words scrolled through her vision. They hurt her eyes, so she blinked them away. She didn't need her mechanical brain to tell her she was in bad shape. She could feel it.

She tried to lift her hand to rub her forehead and release some of the tension there, but her hands would not move. They were tied down. She tugged against the restraints, but they would not give an inch.

Then the realisation hit her. She couldn't feel it against her skin. Cinder lifted her head just far enough to be able to see her right hand. Her ring was gone. Panic flooded her mind. She couldn't remember if she had been wearing it when Hanna had dragged her onto the ship. She knew she'd had it first thing that morning. But then the fight had taken over everything and –

The door opened and the gaunt man entered.

"Where am I?" Cinder demanded. "What did you do to me?"

The gaunt man did not reply. He checked a monitor to Cinder's left, just out of her line of sight.

"I demand you answer me!"

"Hahaha!" The cackle came from the door. Mallorie was watching her with amusement.

"You can demand all you like, _Your Majesty_ ," she spat. "He will only answer to me."

"What do you want with me?" Cinder asked. She pulled against the restraints again.

"Nothing," Mallorie replied. "I simply wanted the pleasure of your company."

Cinder did not need the orange light in her vision to tell her this was a lie. Mallorie had plans for her, she knew it.

"You can torture me all you want," Cinder said boldly. "I won't tell you anything."

Mallorie laughed again. "My dear, there is no knowledge you possess that I could possibly desire. But you are right about one thing. I can torture you all I want. By the time your friends – _if_ your friends find you, they will find you broken and babbling and begging for death."

Cinder did not respond. She did not give the satisfaction of showing fear.

"To think my queen was –"

"Your queen," Cinder interrupted. "Is dead. Torturing me won't bring her back."

"No, but it will be cathartic nonetheless."

With that, Mallorie opened her mind and crawled inside Cinder's. The invasion was strong, overpowering, ruthless. She could feel Mallorie picking through her thoughts, tossing aside any sign of resistance. A sadistic smile spread across her face. "Ah," she said. "Now, this looks promising."

Cinder could visualise a box in her mind. A box that had been sealed and locked a long time ago. Mallorie stood over it.

 _Please no_ , Cinder begged silently. She didn't care if Mallorie could sense it or not. She put up every wall and barrier she could to protect the box. But Mallorie found her way through. She pried the box open.

Cinder screamed. The pain was instant. Flames licked at her body. The heat was unbearable. Smoke filled her lungs and she choked. In her mind, she was three years old again. Her nursery was burning around her. The fire became her whole world. Nothing could save her.

But she knew it wasn't real. She knew she had lived through all of that. She tried desperately to rise out of the memory and back to the present, but every time she came close to breaking the surface, Mallorie was there to force her under again. Back to the flames. Back to the nightmare she had suffered for years. But there was no waking up from this. No escape. The fire consumed her. Her screams were useless.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Not mine - don't rub it in.

Author's Note: Apologies if the science stuff in this is off. There is a reason I'm a writer and not a scientist :) Anyway, please read and review as always. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Three weeks with no word. No sign of Mallorie at all. No way of telling if Cinder was –

He turned the ring over in his hand, the opal catching the light and shimmering. It was almost hypnotic, but it did nothing to settle the anxious knot in his stomach. Iko had found it after the fight. It must have fallen off her finger as Hanna had dragged her away. Now, it was his talisman. His one solid link to her. If he stared at it long enough, held it tight enough, wished hard enough, she would be safe.

If only the world worked like that.

Kai clutched the ring in his fist and closed his eyes.

"Where are you?" he muttered.

When he had heard what had happened at the farm, he had dropped everything. He left Torin in charge and met up with the Rampion to join the search. Not that he felt particularly useful, but just being there felt better than waiting for a comm call. Most of them on board had very little to do right now. Cress and Iko seemed to be the only ones who were constantly busy. They were working in shifts monitoring the net feeds, working with his team in New Beijing and Camilla's team in the UK. They scoured the globe, searching endlessly for any clue, any tiny scrap of intel on Mallorie.

Kai got up from the bed he was calling his own for the time being and, for the fifth time that day, he wandered to the control room.

Iko had taken over the Cress. She sat hunched over her screen, scrolling through the latest feed.

Kai gently lay his hand on her shoulder. Her hand reached up to cover his in mutual support and comfort.

"Anything?" Kai asked, taking a seat at the co-pilot's control station.

Iko shook her head.

"Cress thought to look for signs of the soldiers, now we know she has some," she explained. "They're harder to conceal, but still…"

She turned her attention back to the screen and continued reading through the feed.

"Is it not quicker to, you know…" Kai asked, thinking carefully how to ask –

"Link direct with the net feed?" Iko finished.

"Yeah," Kai said with a grateful smile.

"I have," Iko replied. "I'm just double checking to make sure I haven't missed anything."

Even after knowing Iko for the better part of a decade, Kai still struggled at times to fully appreciate what she was. A machine. A walking, talking, and at times singing and dancing, computer. She always seemed so much more alive than that. She certainly had more appreciation for life than most of the people he knew.

"Can I do anything to help?" Kai asked, desperately hoping she could find something for him to do.

Iko shook her head, her face full of sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Kai," she said.

Kai nodded in understanding, but was deflated nonetheless.

"To be honest," Iko said sitting back in her chair. "This is rather pointless in itself."

Kai looked at her in surprise.

"If there was anything to find here, we would have found it by now," Iko explained. "Mallorie is too good at hiding to leave any traces for us to find on any old net feed."

"Hopefully the teams on the ground can find something," Kai said, trying hard to sound optimistic.

"I hope so," Iko agreed. "But right now…"

Kai looked at her. He had never seen her look so defeated before.

"What?" he prompted.

"I just feel so useless right now," she admitted. "Adri always used to call me a useless android. For once, I actually feel like she's right."

"Oh Iko," Kai said, his voice tender and comforting. "You are not useless at all. There's a thousand things you can do that I wouldn't know where to start."

"Like what?" Iko said, putting him on the spot.

"Well, fashion for one thing," he replied.

Iko nodded. "Good point," she said. "Speaking of which, those shoes with that t-shirt. Really?"

Kai looked down at his t-shirt and shoes. "What?" he said bewildered. "They're both black?"

"Exactly," said Iko. "Would it kill you to add some colour every once in a while?"

Kai laughed. The sound seemed to cheer Iko a little and a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. But only for a moment.

"I'm no good in a crisis, though," she added.

"And I am?" Kai asked her. "I'm good at two things: Politics and Diplomacy. I have no practical skills whatsoever. My knowledge of a computer system is laughable. I've been here for three weeks and all I have been able to do is use up part of the oxygen supply."

Iko smiled at him. "You've done more than that."

"Not much. But you… you've been in here every day doing everything you possibly can to find them. Don't tell me you're no good in a crisis. I've seen you in action Iko-dàrén. You're far from useless, believe me."

Iko's smile broadened. "Thank you," she said.

"Anytime. I know what it's like to feel useless. It's not a fun experience."

"That's a very android trait you have."

Kai shook his head. "No, it's a very _human_ trait that _you_ have. You forget, Iko, that you are no mere android. There should be a whole separate category especially for you."

Iko smiled. "Really?" she said, blushing.

"Absolutely," he replied. He thought for a moment before adding, "You're a… person of synthetic origins."

Iko beamed at him.

"There you are," she said, the lightness returning to her demeanour. "You're not useless either. You're the motivation guy."

Kai let out a laugh before a brief silence drifted between them.

"I'd never seen her so happy, you know," Iko said eventually. "That day you proposed to her."

Kai felt for the ring in his pocket. Felt for his connection to Cinder.

"It was mutual," he replied.

Iko smiled thinly.

"I should let you get back to work," Kai said standing to leave.

He placed a gentle, small kiss on the top of her head as he left. There was a time when a gesture like that would have caused a system malfunction in Iko. He was glad they were past those days. Glad they had both been able to see the person beneath the outer trappings.

As he left the control room, Cress came jogging up the corridor towards him.

"Captain needs everyone in the mess," she said jogging past him to fetch Iko. "There's an incoming comm from Luna."

* * *

"We need to know your exact location," Winter said over the comm link.

Everyone had gathered in the mess to receive the comm. Winter had wasted no time at all with greetings – something very out of character for her. Thorne was instantly alert at her request.

"We're in geosynchronous orbit over Guadelupe," he answered. "It's lovely this time of year. You should drop in for a visit."

"That's exactly what we're doing, Thorne-friend," Winter replied. "Jacin has created an antidote to Mistress Mallorie's poison. He only has a small amount, but it will be enough to save Rose. He's on his way to you as we speak."

Thorne saw Gregg sit up straighter at the news. "That's brilliant," he said.

"Yes it is," agreed Winter. "Provided we find her in time."

The reminder of the obstacles still in their way pulled them all back down to earth again (so to speak).

"What's his ETA?" Thorne asked, hoping the others would appreciate his glossing over her last comment.

"Three hours," she replied. "Be ready."

With that, she ended the comm.

"Does anyone else miss the slightly psycho-mad Winter?" Thorne asked the room. "This new President-efficient Winter is a little unnerving at times."

"She's a person of authority, Thorne," Kai replied. "Of course you find her unnerving."

* * *

The princess slept and Crowe stood guard, just as the Mistress had ordered. Even thought she was not there to control him, he obeyed. He feared what she could do to him if he didn't.

Every so often, he would steal a glance at the princess' beautiful face. It was pale now. All the colour of life had drained from it as the poison pulsed through her veins. Crowe pitied her. He knew she would still feel the agony throughout her body. In her mind, she would be screaming, begging for help. For relief from the unending pain. But to the world, she looked at peace. Perfect. Serene.

He knew it wouldn't be long for her now. Soon, she would have her relief. Soon, she would be dead.

* * *

The vial of antidote was tiny. It looked like it could only hold a few drops of the life-saving liquid. But it was enough. Jacin assured them it was enough. When he had arrived on the Rampion, they had all gathered in the mess again. It was the closest thing the ship had to a conference room.

"We have to make sure she gets this within the next few days," Jacin explained. "Any longer and she will be too far gone to save. I'm sorry I couldn't get it here sooner."

"Well, that's just aces," Thorne said. "We still have no idea where Mallorie is. We've been searching for weeks and nothing. What makes you think she'll just pop up in the next few _days_?"

It was something he knew the rest of them were thinking. He didn't want to use the phrase 'too little, too late,' but it did seem to ring true at this point.

Even so, a knowing smile spread across Jacin's face. "Radioactive isotopes," he said cryptically.

Cress was the only one in the room who perked up. "Oh, that's genius. From the poison?"

Thorne looked at her, hoping that by doing so he would spontaneously understand what she was talking about.

He didn't.

Jacin nodded. "From the production process for the poison," he explained. "I've had a team studying the poison for months now, including reverse engineering it in the hopes it would help in creating the antidote. They discovered that when it's made, it creates a unique isotopic signature, one that can be traced."

Jacin tapped his port-screen and a holographic image of the United Kingdom spread over the table, glowing blue in the dim light of the mess. Five areas on the map glowed orange.

"Winter had one of our satellites scan for the signature on earth and this is what showed up."

Thorne's knowledge of UK geography was a little rusty, but he knew two of the orange areas were within the city of London. One looked like it was in what was left of Wales – Cardiff, perhaps. The other two were further north – one around the middle of the country and the other up in the North East, near the Scottish border.

"The orange areas are where the isotope has been detected," Jacin explained. "Old Kensington Palace and a warehouse at the docks in London, a storage facility near Cardiff. That one in the middle is Chatsworth House and in the North is Cragside House. They're both old, abandoned, second-era mansions. No-one has been near them in years."

"The dots over London and Cardiff look paler than the others," Cress observed.

Jacin nodded. "The warehouse and the storage facility have been confirmed as empty. Mallorie hasn't been there for a very long time. As for Kensington Palace, we think she was there before the ball in June. I doubt she's been back much since. It seems to be too much of an unnecessary risk to be that close to the queen."

"That just leaves these two," Kai said pointing to the bright orange markers over Chatsworth and Cragside. "I can contact my team, have them send a surveillance droid with a thermal imaging camera over both sites."

Jacin nodded as Kai got up from the table and headed to the control room to make the call.

"So what's the plan?" Gregg asked eagerly. "How do we get the antidote to Rose when we find her?"

Thorne, Cress and Iko turned to look at Jacin, each expecting him to have the answer.

Jacin shifted in his seat. "Well, the antidote itself is pretty simple. It's administered through the mouth," he explained. "The vial contains a highly concentrated dose. All it would take is two drops, maybe three and the effects would be pretty instantaneous."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though," Cress cautioned. "We still have to find her, remember?"

It didn't matter, though. The glimmer of hope they had all be waiting for had finally appeared, like the sun blazing over the horizon at dawn. At last, it felt as if they were making progress and closing in on Mallorie.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Yep, still not mine. Don't rub it in...

Author's Note: So, life got in the way a bit this week! Sorry for the lack of updates. On we go with Chapter 13. Please read and review as ever. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

There was no plan. What they had, Gregg refused to call a plan. At best, it was a collection of vaguely tactical ideas. At worst, it would likely get them all killed. But given the lack of time they had to piece it together, it was just going to have to do.

The aerial imaging sent back by the drones had been conclusive. Chatsworth was abandoned. Cragside was not. Of course, that threw up problems if its own as Cragside House very literally lived up to its name. On three sides, the house was surrounded by dense and overgrown wilderness. The fourth side was a sheer drop a few hundred feet high – the jagged, craggy cliff face that leant its name to the house. Gregg was sure that it would have made for a stunning view in its hey-day, but it did not lend itself for easy access.

From what they could gather, there were two entrances. The first was the main gate, with its welcoming arch and once grand courtyard beyond. The path to the gate was so densely overgrown with weeds and brambles and all manner of foliage, it would take a machete to hack their way through.

The second entrance was underground and had been built into the cliff as a shelter during the Fourth World War. Cress had found the schematics for the bunker and theorised it was the most likely place for Mallorie to be holding Cinder and possibly even Hanna.

Their main offensive would be focused on the bunker with a small team (Gregg and Iko to be exact) targeting the main gate.

As for Mallorie herself, the consensus was that she would prefer the comforts and luxuries of the main house (albeit they were luxuries tempered with over a century of abandonment and dilapidation). They hoped – wished, crossed their fingers really – that Mallorie would want to keep Rose close to her to better enjoy watching the last moments of life slip away from her.

In all the scheming, Gregg had become more and more dubious of the assumptions that were being made.

"We have fought her kind before," Thorne pointed out. "It's not an entirely wild gamble."

Even so, as Gregg approached the edge of the thicket leading to Cragside's main gate, machete in hand and Iko by his side for back up, he couldn't help feeling the twist of nervous energy in his gut.

"Is this _really_ going to work?" he said doubtfully to Iko.

Iko's expression was somewhere between determination and trepidation as she slowly nodded.

"OK," said Gregg. "But just for the record, this is insane."

"Noted," said Iko. A thin smile reached her lips. "Is the vial safe?" she asked.

Gregg tapped the small pocket located over his heart and felt the small glass vial of antidote shift under his touch.

"Yes," he said.

There had been great debate over who would be trusted with the precious vial. In the end, it had been Gregg's sheer determination that had won out. He was not going to let Rose down again. He would not let any of them down again. If the others found Rose in the bunker, he would find a way to get to her.

Gregg checked his watch. There was still five minutes until the other were due to be in position. He puffed out a breath trying to steady his nerves.

Not long to wait now…

* * *

An elite team of UK and Eastern Commonwealth soldiers had met up with them at the base of the cliff. Cress was quite happy for them to take the lead as they made their way through the concealed cave entrance and up the moisture-slicked stairs inside the cliff that led up to the bunker's door.

There was no chatter among the soldiers. And beside her, Thorne and Jacin were silent and serious. Her own heart beat pounded and seemed to echo the march of boots ahead of her.

Before long, the marching stopped and Cress was ushered to the head of the line. They had reached the door. Now it was her skills that were needed.

Bringing out her port-screen to act as a flashlight, she approached the panel on the wall by the door and pried the casing away, revealing a mess of wires beneath.

"Oh," she said with a little surprise.

"What is it?" Thorne asked. He was so close in the tight space that she could feel his breath rustle her hair as he spoke.

"I think this is the original wiring. I don't think the security system has been upgraded since the fall of the second-era."

"Is that a problem?" Thorne asked.

Cress twisted her face, not that anyone would have seen it in the cavern's dim light.

"Well no," she said. "It may take a little longer to crack is all. I've never seen second-era tech up close like this before." There was a hint of excitement in her voice – like a child being present with a new toy to play with.

Thorne's hand came to rest on her shoulder. It was meant to bring her into focus, but really served as more of a distraction.

"Well," he said. "Historical appreciation will have to wait. We need that door busted open, remember?"

Cress cleared her throat and rolled her neck, releasing tension from her muscles. Letting out a steadying breath, she narrowed her eyes and thumbed through the mess of wires before her. She carefully stripped a few of them of their plastic coating and connected in her port-screen. The small screen flashed a few times before the old-style binary code began to scroll over it.

"Oh wow," she said on a breath.

Thorne cleared his throat. "Still on the clock, honey."

"Right, yeah," she said. "Focusing."

Even so, there was a gleam in her eyes all for herself as she picked her way through the code.

The second-era really had been a golden age – or at least parts of it had been – with its elegant but simple tech, and its art, and music, and poetry…

Cress began to hum one of her favourite opera arias as she worked. The rhythm of the song wove its way through her mind and was soon echoed by her light fingers on the screen. She was blissfully unaware of the curious glances from the soldiers around her. Her thoughts focused on the tech and the code and the task at hand.

"One minute, Cress," Thorne informed her.

One minute until the agreed time they would launch their attack. The door needed to be open by then.

"Shhhh," she replied, not taking her eyes off the screen.

As she reached the end of her aria, she gave one last tap to her port-screen. A green light blinked on the panel and the heavy metal door before them began to slide open.

Cress turned and grinned at Thorne.

"Thirty-two seconds to spare," he said glancing at his watch. "Pretty slick."

"When we win," Cress said quietly to him. "Can I keep this as a souvenir?" She pointed to the panel.

Thorne laughed. "Anything for m'lady," he replied.

The soldiers began to file through into the first corridor of the bunker. It would not be long before they split off into two groups to cover more ground. Cress and Thorne would go with one team and Jacin with the other.

As Jacin came up the stairs, he stopped and gave them each a short nod.

"Good luck," he said. "Stay in contact."

With that, he followed his team down the corridor and turned right.

Cress and Thorne went left. Once again, silence fell between them as their search began.

* * *

"It's time," Iko said.

Gregg glanced at his own watch. 06:00. Right on schedule.

He gripped the machete in his trembling hand and, steadying himself, he began to hack away at the dense overgrown mess before him.

At first, the plant life gave way easily to him, but the further in the got, the harder it became. The brambles had grown higher and thicker than they could have imagined from looking at the surveillance photos. Darkness loomed over them as they carried on – the trees growing so high and so close together, the thin breaking light of dawn did not reach them here. Iko brought out a flashlight and held up, trying to find the best angle to light their way. It cast long, sinister shadows ahead of them, like fingers and hands reaching into the darkness.

Gregg's arm quickly began to ache as he continued to hack away at the obstacles in their path.

"You look very heroic like that," Iko said. Gregg smiled briefly despite himself. Despite the fatigue building in his muscles.

"Thanks Iko," he said between laboured breaths. "But it's really… not as… fun… as it… looks."

With each swing of the machete, he could feel his jacket and the back of his hands and his cheeks and his neck catching on thorns that jutted out in every imaginable direction. He felt his skin open as they racked over him. He felt heard the rip of fabric as a rather large branch took hold of his right knee and opened a hole in his trousers. He stopped for a second to inspect the damage. His leg under the trousers was not bleeding. Yet.

"You know," Gregg said as they carried on. "If you wanted to feel useful, you could always take over for a bit."

"I've got the flashlight," Iko replied. "I am useful."

Gregg rolled his eyes and carried on swing away and hacking at the branches. He had no idea how long he had been at this. Or how much further it was. He hoped it wasn't far.

When the trees finally began to thin and the dense foliage started to give way to stone and mortar, Gregg couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief. The gate came into view, the arch standing over it, guarding, waiting. Their footsteps echoed as they walked underneath it and emerged into the courtyard.

Gregg stood and turned in a circle, taking in the surroundings. The house towered over them, its beige stones mottled with grime and bullet holes from the end of the war. The half-timbering was cracked and sagged with age. The red tiled roof was riddled with holes and he could see some of the brambles pocking through – nature reclaiming the house as its own.

The courtyard itself opened out over the cliff. Gregg had been right. The view was stunning. He could see for miles across the woodland, the dense see of green broken only by a stream running through it. It caught the light as the first rays of sun began to edge over the horizon. He imagined the house before it was abandoned. Before the war. Before the damage and decay had set it.

It would have been beautiful.

A sudden noise from above them drew Gregg's attention and he spun round to follow it to its source. One of the grand windows on the second floor stood wide open. Mallorie watched them in the courtyard below. She clapped slowly, the sound echoing around them, bouncing off the old buildings.

"Well," Mallorie said with a malicious smile. "This is a pleasant surprise."

* * *

The sound of bullets tore through the air and pounded off the walls. Cress crouched low on the floor, Thorne hunched over her for added protection. Her hands clamped over her ears, trying to dull the din that raged around her in the narrow corridor. The soldiers had not stopped firing for a full three minutes now as more and more wolf- soldiers clambered into the corridor to attack. Mallorie didn't just have the handful they had seen at the farm. She was building her own army here.

Slowly – very slowly – Cress began to crawl forwards. All the time, Thorne remained with her, his arm over her shoulders, his own gun raised and ready to fire at anything that came too close for comfort. They stopped again as a new rain of bullets bounced dangerously around them.

At last, Cress reached another corridor branching off to the right. Thorne looked down it first before nodding to her, signalling it was clear. Cress made it ten feet down the corridor before she stopped and leaned against the cold concrete wall. She breathed heavily as adrenaline pumped through her veins. The sound of gunfire was still loud, but already muffled slightly by the distance they had moved away from it. She took out her port-screen and briefly looked at the schematic map she had downloaded of the bunker.

"The main living quarters should be this way!" she shouted over the battle noise.

Thorne nodded and led the way down the corridor away from the fighting. A pang of guilt clung to Cress' chest as she glanced back the way she had come, leaving the soldiers behind.

It wasn't long before the shouts and snarls and gunfire blasts of the fighting became a distant echo to them as they made their way through the labyrinth of corridoes and passages. The fluorescent lights overhead flickered and strobed slightly, lending a sickly, pale, dim light to the bunker. As they passed doors on either side, Thorne would throw each one open and quickly search the room. Empty. Deserted. Silent. Not a soul around them.

"How far to the main house?" Thorne asked as they carried on passed another empty room.

Cress checked the port-screen. "Still a way off," she said. "It looks like Jacin will get to it long before us."

Thorne nodded and pushed open another door. As Cress put the port-screen back into her pocket for safe keeping, she collided with his shoulder as he stopped still in the doorway, his gun still raised. Cress followed his gaze into the room and gasped.

In the middle of the room, strapped down to a gurney with wires and attached to her forehead and, but the looks of it, the back of her neck, was a familiar figure.

Cinder.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Author's Note: So, heading towards the finish line. Only about 3 more chapters to go after this one. Hope you're still enjoying reading. Please leave a review to let me know :)

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

Beneath her eyelids, Cinder's eyes moved fast, as if reacting to a dream. Her limbs twitched and a quiet whimper escaped her lips.

Cress' stomach twisted seeing her like this. So small. So helpless. It was not how she imagined her former-queen. Her friend.

Even so, seeing the small movements gave her hope. At least she was alive.

Cress followed Thorne into the room. He quickly glanced around, making sure they were alone. When he was finally satisfied they hadn't been followed, he lowered the gun and joined Cress at the side of the gurney.

Her eyes darted over the machinery and the wires.

"What have they done to her?" Thorne asked.

"I'm not sure," Cress replied. "But we should be careful in waking her up."

Cress started by disconnecting the wires running to the back of Cinder's neck – the ones plugged into her control panel. As soon as the last wire was free, Cinder's eyes flew open, wild and alert.

She screamed. The sound was deafening, agonised, desperate. Her arms and legs began to convulse and she gasped for air, taking in great lungfuls before her screams resumed.

"What did _you_ do to her?!" he called over Cinder's screams.

"Nothing, I –" Cress trailed off, spotting a familiar object on Cinder's forehead. A small round disc the size of a thumbnail with a single red light blinking on and off, on and off. The same device Hanna had when she attacked the farm.

"Here," Cress said resolutely, handing the port-screen to Thorne. She quickly pulled the remaining wires from Cinder's forehead and moved in closer to the device on her head.

"Hold her still," Cress ordered as Cinder's erratic movements made it difficult to get a good look at the device.

Thorne half climbed onto the Gurney and forced Cinder down, pinning her arms and legs. He held her shoulders firmly. Cinder's eyes were still wild and unfocused. She did not recognise them at all.

Cress carefully ran her fingers around the device and was glad to find she could fit her nails just beneath it, enough to be able to start pulling it away from the skin. She gently tugged it.

Cinder screamed louder.

Instinctively, Cress let it go and Cinder's scream died back.

"Maybe you just need to pull it off quickly," Thorne suggested. "One quick movement, like a band aid."

Cress looked at him, worry etched around her eyes.

"I have no way of knowing what sort of neural damage that could cause," she said.

"Look at her, Cress!" Thorne said sternly. "She's in agony!"

He was right. Whatever damage she could do with the device, it seemed to pale in comparison to the torture she was enduring now.

Cress pressed her lips together in determination. She gripped the device between her fingers again and, on the count of three – one… two… three –

She pulled the device away, quickly and sharply. The light stopped blinking.

Cinder gasped and collapsed back onto the gurney. Her breathing was heavy, raspy, sweat beaded on her forehead.

Cress stepped back as Thorne climbed off the gurney and checked Cinder's pulse at her neck.

"It's fast," he said. "But it's slowing a little."

Cinder's eyes opened and searched around the ceiling.

"Cinder?" Cress said gently.

Cinder's head turned sharply towards her. At first, her eyes were full of panic and fear. But Cress stepped closer and took hold of her hand. Recognition softened Cinder's features.

"Cress…" she said, her voice thin and dry.

"It's me," Cress confirmed with a re-assuring smile.

Cinder whimpered, but no tears fell from her eyes. Cress and Thorne worked quickly to undo the restraints holding her down on the gurney. She slowly sat up and held her head in her hands, still catching her breath.

"What happened?" Thorne asked. Cress could see he wanted to lay his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but he held back, probably afraid she would fight him off.

"Fire," Cinder said quietly. "In the nursery."

Cress shuddered. "From when you were a child?"

Cinder nodded. "Over and over again. I couldn't get out. It was just –" She hissed in a breath, and gradually looked up. She looked at her hands.

"My ring…" Her voice was almost childlike in her desperation.

Cress smiled warmly. "Kai has it," she said.

The relief flooded Cinder's body and she sank back onto the gurney as the last remnants of panic flowed away.

"Look," Thorne said, glancing towards the door. "I know you've been through a lot here, but do you think you can walk? We really should get moving. We still have to find –"

Cinder waved her hand to stop him. "Yeah, I'm OK. Just give me a minute."

But it wasn't long at all before Cress was helping her off the gurney. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet for a few second but soon was able to stand without support.

"Do you have that thing?" Cinder asked Cress, rubbing her forehead where Mallorie's device had been.

Cress nodded and handed it over. She watched as Cinder held it in the palm of her right hand. She ran her fingers over its surface, studying it. Then she dropped it to the floor and stamped on it with her metal foot. She stamped again and again. Grunts of anger, frustration, fear and pain accompanied each footfall as she smashed it to pieces.

Cress could feel tears prick the corner of her own eyes.

Without a word, Thorne pulled Cinder into a tight, comforting embrace. He held her close as her breathing shuddered and slowed once more.

"I think you killed it," he said lightly in her ear.

An uncertain laugh escaped Cinder's lips. She took in one deep breath and stepped away from Thorne. She turned to face Cress, her expression now strong and set with resolve.

Cress had always admired how Cinder could do that. Could be broken to tiny fragments one minute and then pull herself back together the next, ready to face the next challenge.

"OK," Cinder said in her usual commanding tone. "Let's go."

* * *

They were no longer alone in the Courtyard. Three wolf-soldiers and Crowe had joined them. Iko could tell they had been ordered to hold them there and not attack, otherwise she would probably be shredded by now. The soldiers glared at her and Gregg, their teeth bared, their eyes flashing with aggression and hunger.

Gregg stood back-to-back with her as they assessed their situation.

"Any ideas?" Gregg asked.

"One," Iko replied. "How comfortable are you with screaming like a girl?"

Their gaze fell onto a door to his right as Mallorie came gliding through it into the courtyard.

"How quaint," she said. "Two shells sent to parlay."

"Parlay?" Iko said, indignantly. "Who said anything about coming here to talk? We're here to take you down, lady. How's that for _parlay_?"

Behind her, Iko felt Gregg cringe, expecting some sort of violent reaction from Mallorie. But Mallorie just laughed. A horrible, jarring sound that was actually worse than receiving a hard punch in the gut from one of the soldiers. Her laugh vibrated through Iko's wiring as it echoed off the walls around the courtyard. It took all her resolve not to shrink away.

"Leave us," Mallorie said dismissively to the soldiers. With a hint of reluctance, the soldiers shrank back into the shadows. This did nothing to set Iko at ease.

"Now, which one of you is felling heroic?" Mallorie asked. In her hand, Iko could see one of the small round devices that Hanna had been wearing when they attacked the farm. The usually sweet, smiling girl, whose expression had been so cold and hostile.

As if deciding for them, Crowe made a lunge for Iko and pushed her forward towards Mallorie. She stumbled but did not fall. When she righted herself, she managed to take a swing at Crowe and caught him square on the jaw. It was a hard blow (especially being delivered by a metal hand), but Crowe barely flinched. In reply, he back-handed Iko and sent her spinning to the ground. She felt the skin give over her cheekbone and felt the breeze one the metal plating below. As she stood up, Mallorie's eyes were wide in surprise.

"You're…" she said hesitantly. "You're an… _android._ " The disgust in her voice was clear.

Iko bristled and straightened herself up to her full height, her chest puffed out and her head held high.

"Actually," she said defiantly. "I prefer the term person of synthetic origins."

Mallorie did not look amused. She nodded to Crowe who grabbed hold of her from behind and pinned her arms to her side.

Mallorie's attention turned instead to Gregg.

* * *

"She's designed them to control shells," Cinder explained as they made their way along the corridors of the bunker. "Once they're attached to a shell, she can use her gift to influence them – it's how she's controlling Hanna. Only it doesn't ware off when she's not around. And it can produce these hallucinations…."

She trailed off for a moment and Cress saw a shiver creep up her spine.

"They're like nothing you've ever experienced." Cinder continued. "They are so real, but at the same time you still know they're not. And they play with you. The more you try to get out, the more they pull you under."

"That's awful," Cress replied.

Cinder nodded. "It was," she agreed. "But as soon as it was disconnected, it was over. So we just need to find Hanna and –"

But she didn't get to finish her thought. They rounded a corner and there was Hanna, blocking their way. She held a piece of metal pipe in her hand and gripped it tight, ready to swing it at someone's skull. Her expression was manic and hungry for a fight.

"Found her," Thorne commented.

"Oh great," Cinder said. "I was hoping we'd be able to sneak up on her."

"Guess you'll just have to improvise," Thorne said taking a step backwards so that Cinder was in the lead.

"Improvise," Cinder repeated. "Right. We just need to get close enough to get that thing off her head."

"Or we could disable it," Cress suggested. "Can you keep her distracted?" An idea was forming in her mind.

"I can certainly try," Cinder replied. She set herself into a fighting stance, her centre of gravity lowered slightly for better balance, her hands brought up in fists towards her face. She rocked back and forward on her feet and held Hanna's gaze.

"Looks like we get a re-match, kid," she said.

Hanna grinned and stepped forward.

"Just keep her here for a few minutes," Cress said, starting to double back along the corridor. "If that doesn't work, draw her back to the room where we found you. Captain, I'll need you on guard with me." She began to run.

She could tell that Thorne was a little reluctant to leave Cinder to fend for herself so soon after going through what she could only describe as an ordeal, but they both knew that Cinder was more than capable of handling herself in a fight like this. As they ran, Cress glanced back to see Cinder duck under Hanna's arm as she swung the pipe towards her head. As she stood back up, Cinder sucker-punched Hanna in the ribs. It slowed her down. But did not stop her.

Cress swallowed hard as her path took her further away from Cinder and Hanna. They soon disappeared from view, but she could hear every blow and every scream that echoed from them down the corridor.

Cress skidded back into the room where they had found Cinder and started frantically pulling apart bits of machinery and wires. Her fingers worked fast. Her mind worked faster.

"You realise you've just taken me away from a chick fight?" Thorne said as he kept watch from the door.

Cress shot a glare in his direction as she worked.

Thorne held his hands up in defence. "Just stating a fact. If we get out of this alive, you may just owe me, is all."

Cress couldn't stop the grin from tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Just shut up and keep watch," she said, focusing in on the jumble of wires.

"What exactly are you doing?" Thorne asked.

"Hopefully something brilliant."

Thorne let out a laugh. "Well that goes without saying." He turned back to the door.

In the distance, they could hear the ring of metal on metal – no doubt Cinder's fist repeatedly colliding with the pipe. It was accompanied by cries and grunts and every so often a dull thud.

"I think they're getting closer," Thorne said.

Cress nodded as she glanced up from her work, her eyes searching around the room. Finally, her gaze latched onto an old intercom system high up on the wall.

"I need that," she said pointing to the old speaker. Thorne followed her gaze, his eyebrows rising sharply.

"Yes, ma'am," he said stepping away from the door. There was a chair in the corner. He moved it into place below the speaker and climbed on top. He was at full stretch but just managed to pulled the outer casing off, revealing the second-era speaker below.

"What do you need?" he said.

"All of it," Cress replied. He had his back to her, but she imagined he was rolling his eyes at her.

"In one piece, or in bits?"

"Bits."

A loud thud rattled the walls around them. The sound of Cinder and Hanna fighting was very close.

"Quickly," Cress added as Thorne began to pull the speaker apart. He tossed the parts down to her. She took them one by one and quickly wired everything into place in the new configuration she had in mind.

Thorne jumped down from the chair and was about to head back to his post at the door when Cinder and Hanna came crashing in.

Cinder had hold of Hanna by the hair and roughly threw her into the room. Hanna doubled over the gurney and shot Cinder a look of such anger and hatred that Cress recoiled a little.

"Sorry to drop in like this," Cinder said, ducking as Hanna lunged at her.

"I'm nearly done," Cress said. "Thorne, you'll need to hold Hanna still in a sec."

Thorne nodded and headed into the fray. He managed to get hold of Hanna by her right elbow and pulled her away from Cinder. Hanna thrashed about as Thorne's grip tightened on her and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pinning her arms to her side.

Finally, Cress had her device ready. The speaker from the intercom system was attached to the front of what looked like a gun of sorts. Wires twisted all over the place and connected to her port-screen. She aimed the speaker at Hanna and typed a command into her port-screen. _Fire._

A high pitch whine built up in the speaker followed by a low _boom_ as a single pulse discharged from the speaker.

Instantly, Hanna stopped fighting against Thorne. She slumped in his arms, but did not lose consciousness. She blinked a few times, her breaths coming in short shallow bursts.

"Captain?" she said uncertainly, as her eyes began to focus again and she glanced around to see who was holding her.

Thorne sighed with relief.

"Welcome back," he said summoning his most charming smile and wink.

Hanna blushed slightly as Thorne let her go.

Cress approached them and gently removed the no-longer-blinking device from Hanna's forehead. She held it in her hand and turned it over, checking it was completely dead.

"What was that?" Thorne asked looking over Cress' shoulder to the intercom speaker and its many wires.

"EMP," Cress replied. "Electro-magnetic pulse. It knocks out anything electrical that gets caught in its range. This was a pretty weak one, but I could have amped it up to take out every light and circuit in the bunker." She smiled with pride, but Thorne was still looking over her shoulder – not at the speaker, but at something else.

"Anything electrical in its range?" he said, his voice edged with worry.

Cress nodded and followed his gaze.

"Oh stars," she said, realising what he was looking at.

Cinder was sprawled out on the floor, unconscious and not moving.

"Well, she does have a lot of electrical stuff going on there," Thorne commented. "Is she going to be OK?"

"Erm…" Cress said with uncertainty. "Well, I don't think it was strong enough to fry any of her wiring but…"

She looked at her friend, completely unresponsive on the floor.

"Oops," she muttered under her breath.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: The Lunar Chronicles don't belong to me. I just borrow them from time to time.

Author's Note: Bank Holiday weekends are brilliant things for catching up on a bit of writing! Happy Easter everyone :) Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review to let me know. Thanks!

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

"Well, my dear," Mallorie said. "It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of your company."

Gregg cautiously stepped backwards, hoping to keep as much distance between him and the Thaumaturge as possible. He didn't remember his time as one of her lab rats and he was rather keen _not_ to be reminded of it. The look on Mallorie's face was merciless and menacing as she advanced towards him. He clutched the machete tighter in his hand and swung it wildly at her. For a second, Mallorie's resolve faltered a little. She halted her steps and leaned back slightly to avoid the blade. But her malice quickly returned and she advanced again.

"Stay back!" Gregg demanded.

Mallorie laughed. "My dear child, do you really think a little knife like that can be of any use against me?"

"You can't control me!" Gregg spat. "I can hurt you with it and you can't stop me!"

A knowing smile tugged at the corners of Mallorie's lips.

"Just like your sister?" she taunted.

Red anger flashed through Gregg's cheeks.

"Don't listen to her Gregg!" Iko called, seeing his fury. "Don't let her get to you!"

Mallorie flashed her a dangerous glance. She lifted her chin to Crowe, giving a silent command. Crowe took hold of Iko's wrist and twisted it as hard as he could. Even though Iko had no nerves in her body, the movement was unnatural and jarring. She cried out as she dropped to her knees. Gregg's eyes were drawn to her. He wanted nothing more than to rush to her aid and get her away from Crowe, but Mallorie –

She was on him faster than he could think. The momentary distraction, his desire to help Iko, had been enough for her to swoop in close to him. One hand grasped his chin and held his gaze firmly in hers. With the other hand, she dug her fingernails into her wrist, nimbly finding her way in between bone and sinew as she gripped harder and harder. Gregg had no choice but to let go of the machete. It clattered to the cobbled stones of the courtyard as he let out a yell of pain.

Mallorie still smiled. She forced him backwards until his back was up against a wall. He was held there, unable to move. Unable to take his eyes away from hers.

"She didn't fight me, you know," Mallorie said, her voice sweet and silky, but harbouring bitterness all the same. "That dear little sister of yours. Such a sweet girl. Her will was easy to bend with the proper tools. That's the beauty of a shell. So much potential. So little resistance."

Gregg spat in her face. He tried to move his arms to do worse, but he was too well pinned. He couldn't move.

The smile faded from Mallorie's face.

"You will see," she said, her voice harsh. "You will break just as she did."

With that, she pressed the device firmly against the left side of his head.

A cry of pain escaped his lips as it attached itself onto his head and forced its way into his thoughts. He could feel her whispering to him. Coaxing him towards her. Drawing his will away. He fought her off. Fought to keep hold of his own thoughts as they wanted so desperately to betray him.

 _I will not give in,_ he thought. _I will not let her win_.

But he could feel her growing stronger with every throb of pain that pulsed through his head.

He clung to every thought, every memory he could summon to block her path. He thought of his sister, of her kindness and light spirit. He thought of the day they boarded the Rampion. It was the first true freedom he had ever known. He thought of his friends. He thought of Rose.

 _Rose._ Most of all he thought of Rose. Memories of her were so strong to him. He felt his resolve strengthen as her beautiful smile drifted into his mind's eye. This was for her. All for her. He would not let her down. He would not fail. Mallorie would not win.

He could feel her – the witch – pressing against his thoughts, demanding entrance. Demanding control. But as long as he thought of Rose, _he_ was in control. He forced her out. He stood his ground, thinking only of his princess.

Memories of Brazil came to the surface of his mind. He remembered her lips against his. How smooth her skin at felt to his touch as he wrapped his arms around her. He remembered the sight of her loosening the over-shirt and slipping it from her shoulders. He remembered her tattoo…

A cackle of laughter broke into his thoughts. It latched on to the tattoo of the dragon on Rose's shoulder. And then, as suddenly as the onslaught had begun, it was over. Mallorie let go of his mind.

Gregg dropped to his knees. He panted in exhaustion. His held his head in his shaking hands as he heard Mallorie's cackling laughter again, this time the sound came from outside of him. It was no less pleasant to hear.

"What lovely memories you have of her," Mallorie said. "How eager you are to cling to them. Let's see how that eagerness fares…"

Gregg looked up. He felt a sting of pain from his left temple as the device kicked in again. But instead of an invasion _into_ his mind, the world outside began to change. Darkness swamped his vision as he stumbled to his feet trying desperately to orient himself. As light began to break through, he was no longer standing in the courtyard. There were no buildings around him. No cobbles beneath his feet. The ground was smooth like slate. To his left there was a cliff. It dropped away to a barren, thorny wilderness below. He looked around wildly, trying to find something familiar.

Something glinted on the ground. A blade. A sword perhaps. He blinked a few times before his vision focused on the machete he had dropped moments ago. He took it up again and turned cautiously on the spot.

A low rasping growl rumbled through the darkness behind him. It was followed by a sudden jet of green fire. Gregg took a dive to one side and narrowly missed the heat of flames as they licked past him. After the fire came two eyes. Two big, yellow, angry eyes. They moved towards him, close to the ground at first, but began to rise high into the air as the creature came to stand to its full height in front of him.

Gregg's jaw hung open in shock as he took in the sight before him.

It was just like the one in her tattoo. Only bigger. Much bigger. More deadly. And fire-breathing!

The dragon looked at Gregg as its prey.

There was a trembling silence as they each observed the other.

Then without warning, the dragon lunged to strike.

* * *

Iko had no idea what she was watching. Gregg leapt about in front of her, reacting to thin air. Machete in hand, he swung madly at whatever hallucination Mallorie had forced into his mind. His eyes were wild with fear as he rolled to one side and stood up again quickly.

Mallorie stood in the middle of the courtyard, laughing. The sound bounced around the buildings and made Iko shudder.

Crowe had not loosened his grip on her arms in the slightest. As much as she tried to wriggle free, he was relentless. Iko threw her head back and caught his chin with the back of her head. She felt his jaw crack and his head jerked backwards, but still he held her fast. He was still under Mallorie's control. Nothing would shake him lose while she was there.

Hating herself just a little for giving up, Iko stopped struggling and instead turned her attention back to Gregg.

"Fight it, Gregg!" she shouted as loud as she could, desperately hoping he could hear her. "It's not real! You have to fight it! Don't let her win!"

But it was useless. Gregg showed no sign that he had heard her. For now at least, he was lost to her.

* * *

 _Fight it. It's not real. You have to fight it. Don't let her win…_

Words, not his own, drifted through his mind. They seemed familiar, but he could not remember why.

 _Not real… Fight… Don't let her win, Gregg_.

Iko. She was calling to him, urging him on.

"Iko?!" he called back, trying to find her. "Where are you?!"

She didn't reply, but her words lingered in his head.

 _Fight it! Don't let her win!_

Another jet of green flames tumbled towards him. He moved just in time but felt the heat of them against his skin, not hot enough to blister him, but close.

The dragon lunged at him and he jumped, bringing the machete down hard on the bridge of its nose. It snapped at him, it teeth razor sharp and deadly. Gregg recoiled at the stench of its breath – like burnt hair and rotting flesh. He swung again and this time drew blood from the side of the dragon's face. It pulled away in pain and reared up on its hind legs. Gregg used the distraction to move away from it.

He knew this wasn't real. It was all in his head. A trick being played by Mallorie. But he couldn't see past it. He couldn't fight his way back to the truth. To Iko. As the dragon writhed in pain, he tried hard to focus his mind, to find his true surroundings again.

"Iko!" he called. He had heard her before. He hoped she would hear him now. "Iko, where are you?!"

* * *

Iko looked up sharply hearing her name.

"I'M HERE!" she shouted back. She saw a small smile spread over Gregg's lips as he turned in the direction of her voice. But his eyes did not find her. They were still seeing the lie Mallorie had put in front of him. But he heard her. It was all the encouragement she needed.

Iko began to struggle against Crowe again. She threw her head back, harder this time and stamped at his feet. Gradually, slowly, his grip loosened, just enough to free her elbow. She dug it hard into his ribs, again and again, until the air was forced out of his lungs and he had no choice but to let her go.

"Fight it, Gregg!" she called in encouragement. "Keep fighting! You can beat this!"

* * *

 _You can beat this!_

He believed her. The dragon was recovering. It pounded towards him, its footfalls shaking the ground beneath him, but he stood firm. This time, it swiped at him with its clawed front leg. Gregg jumped backwards and brought his machete down hard against the claws. Sparks flew up as the metal connected and scraped along the sharp talon. It didn't seem to faze the dragon at all. It swiped at him again, and again, and again.

Each time, it drove Gregg further and further backwards, he glanced behind worried to see the cliff edge growing closer and closer. Five feet behind him. Three feet. Two. He needed to act fast.

The dragon lunged at him, fire cascading from its mouth and nostrils. Gregg rolled to one side, but rolled too far. He lost his balance and toppled off the side of the cliff.

He threw his arm up instinctively and caught the edge of the cliff, just in time to stop himself from falling to his death. The machete was held tight in his other hand. He could not let it go, no matter how much easier it would be to clamber back up without it. It was his only defence against the dragon and he could not – would not – let it go. His feet scrambled beneath him, trying desperately to find purchase on the crumbling slate of the cliff face. His left foot steadied first and a sigh of relief escaped his lips as it enabled him to push upwards and swing his arm over the top of the cliff. He slowly heaved himself to safety and lay for a few seconds on his back gasping for breath.

But the dragon was not going to allow him any respite. Claws descended towards him with a rush of air. Gregg rolled out of the way and onto his knees as the claws dug into the ground where he had been lying. Without a second thought, he plunged the machete into the back of the dragon's foot and sharply drew it away again.

The dragon pulled back as black, inky blood oozed from the wound. It reared up, letting out an almighty roar that rattled through Gregg like thunder.

He saw his chance. As the dragon reared up. It stretched out its chest, ready to let out another incinerating breath.

 _Fight!_ Gregg heard Iko's voice again, spurring him on.

He stood up and planted his feet firmly. He took the machete in both hands over his head and hurled it towards the dragon.

The blade flew straight and true through the air and impaled deep into the dragon's heart. An agonised cry ripped through the air as the dragon sank to the ground. Its body crumpled beneath it. Still. Lifeless. Dead.

Gregg sank to his knees, exhausted by the rush of adrenaline. He looked at the dragon's body before him, still expecting it to twitch back to life and attack again. But it remained still.

Just as Gregg felt the first rush of relief, a pain seared through his head. He fell forward, catching his head in his hands and screamed in pain. But as suddenly as the pain had started, it began to subside. Darkness flooded his vision again as the cliff side melted away. He felt cobbles beneath his body again as reality crept back into his perception. He heard his own cry echo around the courtyard as he brought his head back up and blinked. His vision began to focus as he slowly took in his surroundings.

* * *

Iko stood over Crowe's unconscious body. At first, Gregg thought he was dead, but his chest rose and fell as he breathed. Iko slowly turned to look at Gregg. Shock was clear on her face as her gaze quickly moved from him to something else in the middle of the courtyard.

Gregg looked round to see what had her attention. His own breath caught in his throat in surprise.

Mallorie was dead.

Gregg stumbled to his feet and edged closer. Her long black coat with its billowing sleeves was crumpled around her lifeless form. His machete jutted upwards from the wound in her chest.

The sight turned his stomach. He looked away and wretched. Shaking, he stood up straight and gingerly reached up to the left side of his head. He pulled the device away from his skin. It came off easily. The red light remained dark, as lifeless as its mistress. Gregg dropped it to the ground and crushed it beneath his heel.

"You did it," Iko said quietly.

Gregg turned around and looked at Iko. Her eyes were still fixed on Mallorie.

"I don't know how," Gregg admitted. "I didn't even see _her_. I was fighting a dragon." Even as he said it, it didn't sound real.

He had fought a giant, deadly, fire-breathing _dragon_. And lived. He thought about what Rose had said when they were in Brazil. That it usually took an army to defeat one… Or a handsome prince.

 _Or a Lunar shell_...

* * *

"I didn't _forget_!" Cress insisted as Thorne continued to tease her. "I just didn't factor it in, in the heat of the moment."

"Whatever," Thorne said. His breathing was laboured as he and Jacin took Cinder's dead weight between them. "She's still going to be pissed when she comes round."

Cress felt a blush rush to her cheeks. There were times that she really, really didn't like Thorne. She loved him dearly – desperately, even. But he was hard to _like_ at times. She did her best not to rise to his baiting, but given the squirm of guilt she felt in the pit of her stomach already, it was hard not to on this occasion. She stomped on ahead of them, following the map on her port-screen as they searched for the stairway that would lead them out to the house's main courtyard.

They had caught up with Jacin, his team and what was left of their team a few minutes after reviving Hanna (and inadvertently knocking out Cinder).

Jacin had little to report. They had stumbled upon a group of wolf-soldiers who kept them busy for a while, but there had been no sign of Mallorie and no sign of Rose. When he saw Thorne dragging Cinder's lifeless body behind him, Jacin had said nothing. A trait which Cress wished Thorne could emulate. Just once.

She held her port-screen up, glad of the light the screen lent to the dingy passageway. She sighed with relief as the light touched upon the first few steps that would take them out of the bunker and back into daylight. She ran up ahead, hoping to have the door unlocked by the time Thorne and Jacin made it up the stairs with Cinder.

Hanna followed her up and as they reached the door at the top of the stairs, she took the port-screen and held it up to give Cress as much light as possible.

"She will be alright, won't she?" Hanna asked tentatively.

Irritation flashed through Cress' mind as she looked up. But Hanna's expression of concern melted her a little. It hadn't been a dig at her. Not everyone was a blunt and tactless as her dearly beloved, she reminded herself. She had asked out of love and care for Cinder.

"She'll be fine," Cress assured her. "It just takes a while for her to reboot." As she said it, though, she felt the knot of guilt in her stomach tighten a little. She hoped it was the truth. She hoped Cinder's wiring had not been burnt up by the EMP. Her EMP. She had run over the calculations in her mind a hundred times on their way through the bunker, desperately trying to convince herself it had only been strong enough to fry the device controlling Hanna. It hadn't even taken out the lights in the room. Given the titanium casing on most of Cinder's cyborg parts, it couldn't possibly screw up Cinder in any permanent way. Could it?

There was no way to know for sure until they got back to the ship and she was able to link into Cinder's internal diagnostics to assess the damage.

She turned her attention back to opening the door as she heard Thorne and Jacin's heavy footsteps on the stairs below them. As they reached the top of the stairs, the light above the door glowed green and Cress shoved hard against the handle. The door swung open and flooded the passageway with welcoming daylight.

Blinking, she stepped into the courtyard. The sight that greeted her made her stop dead in her tracks. All prior thoughts flew away as she tried to process what she was seeing.

She heard Thorne and Jacin stumble to a halt behind her.

"What the –" Thorne voiced, but even he was rendered speechless.

 _Small mercies_ , Cress thought.

Her eyes scanned over the courtyard, taking it all in. Crowe unconscious. Mallorie dead. _Dead_. Iko and Gregg looked exhausted and Cress was sure there were signs of shock on Gregg's face.

Slowly, he and Iko turned to look at their newly arrived friends. As if they had only just registered their presence. It was a good thing it was friends come to greet them and not enemies.

"Are you alright?" Cress asked, taking a step towards them. But Gregg looked straight past her. His gaze falling on the person behind her.

"Hanna," he said weakly. His hands were shaking.

Cress saw tears well up instantly in Hanna's eyes as she quickly closed the distance between her and her brother. She leapt into his embrace and buried her face in his shoulder. The relief flowed from them in waves. A lump formed in Cress' throat as she watched them.

"Gregg killed Mallorie," Iko said in reply to Cress' question.

Cress turned to look at her, noticing the gash along her cheek.

"I knocked out Crowe," Iko continued. Her attention drifted to Thorne and Jacin, and the load they were carrying. "What happened?"

"We found Cinder," Thorne pointed out, finding his voice again. "She's fine. Or she was."

Cress felt irritation rise through her cheeks again as he continued.

"Cress thought it would be a good idea to fry her brain a bit."

Cress shot him the sternest look she had ever mustered.

"I did not fry her brain!" she shot back. "I may have over-estimated the efficiency of an EMP ever so slightly…"

She trailed off as Iko took Cinder from Thorne and Jacin and gently laid her down on the ground. Cress could imagine her processor working hard, assessing every sign of life in Cinder's body. Her silicone heart was beating – that much they had established. As for the rest…

Iko lifted Cinder's eyelids, one at a time. She rocked back on her knees, a look of slight relief on her face.

"Well, her pupils are reacting to light. That's a good sign," she said.

Cress' shoulders sagged as she felt a little of the guilt release from her stomach. Thorne came to her side and tried to rest his arm across her shoulders. She shoved him away, still feeling a flash of anger at his previous taunts.

"Don't even try to get around me like that," she snapped.

But Thorne knew his way around her defences. He smiled at her – not the cocky smile that he usually adopted, but a warm, loving smile that he reserved only for her.

"I'm sorry," he said, he pulled her into his arms before she could protest and planted a gentle kiss in her hair. "You know I wouldn't tease if I actually thought Cinder was in any sort of trouble."

"That's not the point," Cress said, desperately trying to stay mad at him, just for a little longer. But her resolve began to ebb with each beat of his heart. "I felt bad enough as it is."

"I know," Thorne replied. "But she _will_ be fine. She's bounced back from way worse."

He tilted her head up to look at him and claimed her lips with his. The kiss spun through Cress' mind and soothed the last remaining pang of guilt. As they broke apart, though, she still punched him lightly on the arm, just for good measure.

"We still need to find Rose," Jacin said, drawing everyone back to their mission.

Cress and Thorne stepped away from each other. Iko looked up from Cinder's unconscious body. Gregg and Hanna remained arm-in-arm as they turned their attention to Jacin.

"There was no sign of her in the bunker," Jacin continued. "We should split up and search the house. She has to be there."

There was a collective nod of agreement.

"I'll stay here with Cinder," Iko said.

"And someone should be here when Crowe comes round," Hanna suggested. "He's going to be pretty disoriented."

There was less enthusiasm for her concern for him, but nevertheless, Hanna insisted on being there for him. It wasn't his fault he had been under Mallorie's control. Or at least that's how Hanna saw it and she could not be shaken from her resolve.

Cress noticed Gregg place a gentle kiss on her forehead as he let go of her and she went to kneel at Crowe's side. There was a look of pride in Gregg's eyes as he watched her.

"That leaves the four of us to search," Jacin said taking command. "Cress and Thorne, what don't you start with the East Wing. Gregg and I can take the West."

There were no arguments as they accepted their tasks. With growing confidence, they set off to find the sleeping princess.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Not mine.. yadda, yadda

Author's Note: So, here we are. Close to the end of the line. Just this chapter and a short Epilogue to go. I started working on this story on 4th March. In the last 24 days I have written over 45,000 words - this is unheard of for me! It has given me a real boost and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as well. It's also inspired me to give National Novel Writing Month a go in November. Watch this space... Please leave a review with your thoughts.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

Gregg's frantic energy as he searched for Rose reminded Jacin of someone. Himself. As they climbed yet another staircase in the house, Jacin couldn't help but cast his mind back to the long night on Luna when his Winter had been poisoned by Levana. He still had nightmares about that day – that he didn't get there in time. That Levana had won.

His heart went out to Gregg, seeing the same look in the boy's eyes as he had when he and Cinder had raced over the barren Luna desert to the lumbar sector where Winter waited in stasis.

He saw Gregg pause at the top of the stairs, his hands resting on either side of a door frame. He looked into the room and slowly entered. Jacin followed him, knowing what he would find within.

They were in the top-most room on the West side of the house. The sun was just beginning to break over the horizon, flooding the room with a warm golden glow. There, laid out on the bed was Rose. In the early morning light, she looked completely at peace. Graceful in repose. But Jacin knew better. The poison coursing through her veins was slowly killing her from the inside out. The pain she would be in right now would be unbearable, but she had no way to show that to them. She was paralysed. Trapped inside her own body and no doubt screaming to get out.

Jacin moved passed Gregg and knelt down at Rose's side. He gently pressed two fingers to her neck and closed his eyes, counting the faint beats that pulsed at his touch. He looked up at Gregg.

"Her pulse is weak," he said. "We need to hurry."

Gregg was rooted to the spot. He had not expected her to look so calm. He didn't know what he had expected, but seeing her so serenely peaceful jarred him somehow. He was mesmerised by how perfect she looked.

"Gregg," Jacin's voice tried to cut into his thoughts. "Gregg! Hurry!"

Gregg snapped out of his own thoughts and fumbled in his pocket for the vial of antidote. He approached the side of Rose's bed as Jacin stepped back out of the way. His hands were shaking as he took the lid off the vial and gently sat on the side of the bed by Rose.

"Help me tilt her head," he said to Jacin, not trusting his own limbs to be steady enough to hold her.

Jacin carefully lifted Rose by her shoulders and supported her upper body while he tipped her head backwards, opening up her throat.

Gregg parted her lips and poured the contents of the vial slowly into her mouth. He was careful to make sure it slipped down to the back of her throat and Jacin's gently massaged her neck, encouraging the drops to sink down further. He laid her back onto the bed and stepped aside.

"I need to comm the others," he told Gregg and promptly left the room to make the call.

This was the part that Gregg had been dreading. The waiting. In his mind, the antidote would work instantly. She would wake up in a matter of seconds, her face breaking into a smile that was only for him. Her arms would close around him and they would be entwined together for an eternity.

But reality was cruel. As Jacin left the room, Gregg remained perched on the side of the bed. He took Rose's hand and weaved his fingers in between hers. He stared at their hands, held together, and inwardly begged her to move. Just the slightest twitch or change of pressure against his skin was all he asked, but nothing happened. She didn't move. There was no way of telling if the antidote was working.

Jacin came back.

"Cress and Thorne are on their way," he said.

"How long will it take to work?" Gregg asked desperately.

"Not long," Jacin said looking at the clock on his port-screen. Gregg noticed the hint of a frown on his face.

"What is it?" he asked.

Jacin didn't reply.

"Were we too late?"

Still, Jacin was silent.

"Answer me!" Gregg demanded. "Were we too late?"

Jacin shifted uncomfortably. "We shouldn't have been," he said carefully. "But she should have at least opened her eyes by now."

Gregg's heart sank in his chest. He tried desperately not to let panic take over him. He brushed his thumb over the back of Rose's palm, hoping that she could feel him there.

"Come on, Bryony-Rose," he whispered. "Come back to me."

He didn't care that Jacin was still in the room. Gregg leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on Rose's lips. It was the briefest of touches, but conveyed so much longing for her all the same. He sat back at her side, still holding her hand.

Then her fingers tightened a little around his. He felt a surge of warmth spread through her hand. He looked up as colour began to pulse back into her cheeks. Her breathing grew stronger – he could see the rise and fall of her chest. Finally, her eyes began to move beneath their lids.

"Rose," Gregg said, uncertain but filled with hope.

In reply, her eyes opened and slowly they came to focus on him.

Gregg stumbled off the bed and knelt on the floor, closer to her head. He gathered her in his arms, relief spreading through his whole body. He kissed her again, stronger this time. Deeper. As they broke apart, Rose was smiling.

From behind him, he heard Jacin's sigh of relief and looked round to see him step forward. Reluctantly, Gregg moved out of the way to allow the doctor through to assess his patient.

"How do you feel?" Jacin asked Rose, taking her pulse through her wrist this time.

Rose looked uncertain for a moment. "Tired," she replied.

Worry began to crease her brow. "I can't feel my legs," she added.

Jacin gave her a re-assuring smile. "Give it time," he said. "The antidote is still working its way through your system."

Rose nodded in understanding, but the worry remained on her face.

"We should get back to the others," Gregg suggested. With that, he stepped up to the bed and wrapped Rose's arm around his shoulders. Being careful to support her back with one hand, he tucked the other beneath her knees and effortlessly lifted her off the mattress.

A brief gasp and a giggle escaped Rose's lips as he settled her comfortably into his arms. The look in her eyes as he carried her down the stairs made Gregg feel truly heroic.

* * *

The quiet hum of the air re-circulation system was the first thing to filter into her mind. Then her diagnostic display kicked in.

 _SYSTEM REBOOT_

 _RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC…_

She tried hard to ignore it as a pain throbbed in her head, drawing her closer and closer to the surface of consciousness.

 _SYSTEM RUNNING AT 87%_

 _NET LINK DISCONNECTED_

Cinder sent the messages away. The pain in her head started to subside and she became aware of how thirsty she was. She licked her lips, trying to encourage moisture back to her mouth.

"Hey," a quiet voice said beside her.

Cinder carefully turned her head in the direction of the voice and slowly opened her eyes. She shut them again quickly and winced away from the light. She gradually opened them again, adjusting to the light in the room. They came to focus on the source of the voice.

Kai.

He smiled at her and shifted from the chair he had placed by her side and came to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Where am I?" she said, her voice rough and dry.

Kai handed her a glass of water.

"You're back on the Rampion. You've been out for about twelve hours," he explained.

"What happened?" she asked. She could remember fighting Hanna. She could remember stumbling back into the room where Cress was pulling wires and fiddling on with second-era tech. She could remember Thorne pulling Hanna away from her and then… Nothing. The world had gone black.

"Cress found a way to disable the chip on Hanna's head," Kai told her. "Down side was it took you out as well."

Realisation dawned on Cinder's face. "EMP," she said, piecing it together. "Good thinking."

Kai let out a chuckle. "You might want to tell her that. At the moment, she is making a long list of ways to apologise and make it up to you. I think she mentioned something about cake…"

"Well, I'll wait until after the cake," Cinder said with a smile. "Then I'll tell her."

"Good plan." He leaned in to kiss her. Cinder's hand came to rest instinctively at the back of his neck. She felt the familiar curl of his hair under her fingers as she leaned forward into the kiss. His arms slid around her waist, pulling her into a close embrace.

"I missed you," he said as the kiss ended.

Cinder smiled. "I missed you too," she replied. "I never want us to be separated like that again."

Kai smiled back at her. "Speaking of which," he said.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small object.

Cinder's heart skipped as he opened his hand to reveal her ring. She kissed him again, overwhelmed by relief and gratitude that he had been able to keep it safe.

"How did you –" she started, but too much emotion caught in her throat for her to finish.

"Iko found it," he said. "She gave it to me for safe keeping."

He took hold of her right hand and slid the ring onto her fourth finger – where it belonged.

Cinder wrapped her arms around him and held him close to her. The feeling of his warmth against her was all she needed right now. All of the trauma of the last few weeks was washed away by his presence alone. He returned the hug. She could feel his heart beat echoing hers. Feel his breath on the side of her neck where he placed a small kiss.

"The mission's over," he said quietly. "Rose is safe."

"Good," Cinder replied.

"You can come home now," Kai said.

Cinder smiled and held him closer. "I'm already home."

* * *

"You fought a _dragon_?!" Iko said, her voice full of shock and excitement. "All that time you were flapping about with the machete. It was a _dragon_?!"

"Well, not a real one. It was a hallucination," Gregg replied, his face flaring bright red as every eye in the room focused on him and his heroic deeds.

"Yeah, a hallucination of a dragon, though," Iko continued. "I mean, how many people can put _that_ on their résumé?"

Rose felt Gregg's arm slide around her waist. He hugged her a little closer to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling a little tension release from him with the contact.

"And then you woke her up with a kiss," Iko swooned. "I mean not even the net-dramas get that right these days!"

"He didn't wake me up with a kiss," Rose insisted "He gave me the antidote and then just happened to kiss me as I woke up."

"Oh, don't kill the romance!" Iko complained. "I have to survive vicariously on this sort of thing."

Movement behind Iko distracted Rose and she looked up to see Cinder and Kai walking hand-in-hand towards the mess. She was awake. And still mobile. Rose glanced over at Cress as her faced flooded with relief. She still shifted awkwardly next to Thorne. She stood up as they entered, her gaze catching Cinder's instantly.

"I'm sorry," she said over the chatter in the room. "I'm so sorry, I should have thought it through more, or warned you to get out the way or –"

Cinder cut her off, pulling her into a tight, forgiving hug.

"It's alright," she said into Cress' ear. "You did good. No harm done."

They all knew this wasn't entirely true. Cress had run the diagnostic herself the minute they were back on board. Cinder's net-link was completely fried. She would not be able to access any newsfeeds, system blueprints or send a comm without a port-screen until Dr Sanchez could have a look at her again. In the grand scheme of things, it was, admittedly, as small price to pay, but Rose knew Cress felt bad about it nonetheless.

"So," Cinder said, looking at everyone gathered. "Mission complete. Go team."

A ripple of laughter spread around the table as Cress sat down next to Thorne again.

"What's next?" Cinder asked.

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Can't we just bask in this victory for a little while? That's the problem with you world leaders. Always looking for the next problem to fix."

"Well we can't all live on a wing and a prayer, Captain," Cinder retorted. "Just count yourself lucky you've got Cress there to do the forward thinking for you."

Thorne turned and looked at Cress. "I do count myself lucky," he said. "Very lucky."

Cress smiled back at him and leaned in to kiss him. Instantly, Gregg and Hanna descended into their familiar chorus of boos, and wolf-calls. Rose remembered the first time she had witnessed this in her week-long stay aboard the Rampion. Cress had turned a brilliant shade of crimson and shyly stepped away from Thorne. Not anymore. If anything, their calls spurred her on. She wrapped her arms around Thorne's neck and pulled him closer.

Actually, the sight was a little on the nauseating side for Rose's liking and she found herself joining in with the next round of teasing.

"Don't you have a wedding to plan?" Jacin said, turning the conversation back to Cinder and Kai.

Rose saw a smile grow on Cinder's face as she looked at the ring rightfully restored to her hand.

"Yes," Kai said, his arm sliding around her waist. "I guess we should make the official announcement sometime soon."

"Suppose we should," Cinder replied.

Iko's hand shot into the air. "Oooh!" She said excitedly. "Can I be your stylist?!"

Cinder laughed. "You're going to be maid of honour," she said.

"Who says I can't be both?" Iko replied, pouting ever so slightly.

"You can be my stylist, if you like," Rose suggested. "I've got the naming ceremony coming up at New Year. It would be very nice not to hate the dress I have to wear for that."

Iko brightened again. "Oh, don't worry," she said. "I already have ideas for a dress for you. You'll look stunning!"

"I just have one condition," Rose said sounding serious. "Make it blue."

If there was one thing she could not bear to think about it was being stuck in another pink dress. When she was a child, her mother had given her a blue dress – just once – and she had loved it. Since then, every dress had been one shade of pink after another. With a name like Rose, it was not surprising, but frustrating all the same.

"Your wish is my command, Your Highness," Iko replied with a slight bow. "Oooh, this is so exciting! I can't wait to get back to London and start shopping!"

"You going to show off that tattoo of yours?" Gregg asked, running his hand over her shoulder were the dragon stood. The touch sent tingles down her spine.

She thought for a moment. The tattoo had been a reminder of her father for so long. A link to him that she could carry with her always. Now, it seemed to be something more than that. She had listened to Gregg's account of his encounter with Mallorie. How thoughts of her had grounded him. How the dragon tattoo had been a marker he could cling to. It represented her.

And because of his battle, it also represented him. It was a mark of what they had been through together. Of the strength they gave each other. She wasn't sure she was ready to share all that with the world.

"No," she said smiling at Gregg. "Not yet."

With that, she kissed him, earning her own wolf-calls from Cress and Hanna. But what did she care. Her prince had rescued her. Now was the start of her own happily ever after.


	17. Chapter 17 - Epilogue

Disclaimer: I think we get the idea...

Author's Note: And finally... I may at some point venture into a Cress/Thorne story. I love writing those two - they are so much fun.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen - Epilogue

Their orbit was steady. Their view was stunning. Earth turned peacefully below them and the sun edged like a jewel over the curved horizon. In her time in the satellite, it had been Cress' favourite view. As she lay now in Thorne's arms, she could not imagine a better way to enjoy it.

It was New Year's Eve. In the morning, they would make their descent to London for Rose's naming ceremony, as she was named Crown Princess of the United Kingdom. Cress had seen the dress Iko had picked out for her. It was indeed blue – midnight blue in the skirt and fading to a brilliant pale sky blue at the top. It reminded Cress of the dawn, which was apparently what Iko had been going for – a new day rising out of a dark night. Beautiful. Simple. Elegant. And definitely not pink.

Straight after that, they would be heading to France, to the farm, to meet Mademoiselle Amelie Maha Benoit-Kesley. Scarlet had sent them all a picture of their little bundle of joy. She was perfect – born a few weeks early, but she was healthy and happy and, from all accounts, hungry. She had her father's eyes and her mother's freckles. Cress couldn't wait to meet her in person.

A week ago, on Christmas Day, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth had announced his engagement to Her Former Majesty, Queen Selene Blackburn of Lunar, more commonly known as Linh Cinder. The newsfeeds had been buzzing with the announcement ever since. Government officials had been interviewed on the subject. Speculation had already begun about the gown and the cake and the music and the flowers…

Cress tuned it all out right now. There would be time to be happy for Cinder when she saw her. This was her time. Hers and Thorne's.

In the weeks following their successful mission to rescue Rose, the Rampion had become very quiet indeed. Cinder had moved into the Palace in New Beijing with Kai – no surprise there. Cress really wasn't sure why she hadn't done it sooner. Gregg and Hanna had both decided to stay on earth. Gregg wanted to stay closer to Rose. Given his efforts in saving her, Queen Camilla had been all too happy to bestow a knighthood on him. Sir Gregg. It had a nice sort of ring to it. The title came with a number of privileges, the most important of which was that he was able to spend as much time with Rose as they deemed appropriate (which was a lot). There was talk of him joining the Palace Guard. Cress didn't know if it was true, but she smiled at the thought of a little bit of history repeating itself.

Hanna was harder to say goodbye to. She had wanted to stay in London with her brother, fair enough. But she also paid a great deal of attention to Crowe when he finally came round. He had been controlled and brainwashed by Mallorie for so long that, now she was gone, he did not know what to do with himself. In fact, it had driven him a little bit mad. He had been transferred to a psychiatric unit outside of London for treatment and rehabilitation. Hanna visited him whenever she could (in between her studies at one of London's top culinary institutes – that sweet tooth of hers being put to good use). Cres admired her for the compassion she was showing Crowe, but it worried her nonetheless. They didn't know who he had been before Mallorie got hold of him. There was every chance Hanna would get badly hurt in all of this. But for now, there was little anyone could do to persuade her otherwise.

That just left Cress and Thorne on board, delivering the vaccine together. Eating and drinking together. And there was no-one around to tell them otherwise. It was bliss. Especially in moments like this. They had no worries. No crisis to attend to. And no-one to hide from.

Cress shifted in his arms and laid her head against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. It was such a familiar, comforting sound. She glanced up and caught his eye.

There was a look in his gaze that it took Cress off guard. It was so sincere, so piercing, as if he was looking right into her soul. It brought a smile to her face, made her stomach flutter. Even now after all this time.

"What is it?" she asked, not understanding the look he was giving her. She sat herself up to better see his face.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," he said, his expression deepening with a serious thought.

Cress sat up fully and he followed, their attention no longer at the spinning planet beneath them.

"It's something we sort of agreed not to discuss."

Cress withdrew a little further from him and wrapped her arms across her chest, defensively. He didn't need to say anymore. She knew exactly what he meant. It was the only thing they _didn't_ talk about. The one thing she couldn't bring herself to think about. Children.

Just like that, Cress' perfect moment was shattered. She turned her gaze away from Thorne, not wanting to look at him. Not wanting to risk another blazing row on the painful subject.

"I know I promised not to push this," he continued. "But there's something you should know."

Still, Cress wouldn't meet his gaze, but she didn't stop him either.

"A while ago, I was talking to Jacin about our… situation."

This was not news to Cress. By now, most of their friends new the sad truth that she couldn't carry a child to term.

"He looked into Sybil's research on Luna," Thorne continued. "I didn't ask him to, I swear, but he came across it when he was working on the antidote for Rose..."

Cress glanced at him briefly when he trailed off. His expression as conflicted. He looked as if he was regretting ever bringing up the subject, but at the same time there seem to be a relief to get it off his chest.

"And?" Cress demanded. Now that the topic had been brought up, she felt it would be worse to leave things half said.

"And he thinks he can help. He thinks he can undo what she did."

Cress was stunned. Of all the things that had run through her mind that she thought he was going to suggest – again. Adoption, surrogacy, fostering… giving up even. She hadn't even begun to imagine that there could be a solution out there.

"But…" she said, still trying to process what he was saying. "But the doctors… they all said it was hopeless…"

"The _Earthen_ doctors," Thorne said, shuffling closer to her. He took hold of her hands as he continued. "Earthen doctors who didn't have access to the full information they needed to help. Jacin could run rings round all of them in a heartbeat, I know it."

"Did he say what it would involve?" Cress asked, her mind still reeling.

"Not exactly," Thorne replied, his hopeful expression darkening just a little. "He said it was all quite experimental at the moment. It could take time. And he couldn't guarantee anything… But he was offering us a chance."

He paused and cupped her face in his hand, bringing her gaze up to meet his. Cress' eyes swam with tears as everything overwhelmed her at once.

"I love you," Thorne said, coaxing a small laugh from her. "I think this could be our best shot. But it's not my decision. If you don't want to put yourself through all that, I won't pressure you… I just thought you should know."

Cress smiled and leaned her head into his hand.

"How long have you known about this?" she asked.

Thorne looked down for a moment. "Erm… since just before Mallorie kidnapped Cinder and Rose…"

Cress sat up straight and stared at him, wide eyed.

"That was months ago," she said. "You've waited this long to tell me?"

"Well, we were kind of busy for a while there," Thorne replied, defensively. "And it's not like we've had a lot of spare time since."

Cress was quiet for a moment. He had a point. It was not the sort of conversation he could have dropped into the middle of that particular crisis. And their time since had been fairly well occupied…

"So…" Thorne said carefully. "What do you think? I'm not expecting an answer right now, I mean I know it's a lot to process. But –"

She stopped him with a kiss. She wasn't even sure herself where the kiss had come from. Whether it was out of gratitude, or excitement, or longing… but it was passionate. Cress felt his fingers work their way through her hair as he pulled her closer and all distance between them vanished. Her back arched as one hand trailed down her spine. They broke apart and she took in a deep breath.

"We owe it to ourselves to at least try," she said eventually, meeting his gaze once again.

Thorne smiled wide and kissed her again. They settled back into each other's arms and hazily watched as the world turn on. Cress was beginning to feel herself slowly drift off to sleep, lulled by the steady beat of his heart, when –

"Do you think Iko would maybe want to be your stylist one day?" he said quietly.

Cress' brow creased, puzzled. "For what?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "You know," he said. "If I ever get round to popping the question…"

Cress looked at him, wide eyed. He had never brought this up before. She was not sure how to react.

"Is that something you're thinking of getting around to?" she asked carefully, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Maybe," he replied with a smile. "Someday."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! Love rach0486 x


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